The Phoenix Rising
by WordyAndRestless
Summary: OotP. AU. A series of werewolf-related crimes plague the city of London. While an in-denial Ministry turns its back upon the matter, perky Auror Tonks and gentle bookworm Lupin seek to uncover the truth. A convoluted plan for the Prophecy and complicated family affairs of the House of Black seems like the least of their troubles when the Dark Lord rises again.
1. The Daily Prophet

**Author's Note:**

Sequel to The Most Beautiful Mendacity. Part Three of the C'est la Vie series.

I'm sorry for the long delay. I got a little caught up in the other story I'm writing xD Now finally I upload this story. I hope you like it! Once again, to quickly clear up my Alternate Universe:  
Sirius is freed because Peter Pettigrew is in jail.  
Sirius is married to Silvia White, an auror and they're expecting a baby.  
Tonks has a cousin named Alexis who is an Unspeakable.  
Voldemort is revived by Barty Crouch Jr. who escaped and isn't dead or kissed by a dementor.

There are several other characters completely of my own making. And the rest is self-explanatory...hopefully. If you have any questions, do feel free to ask me and I will try to answer them xD

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling. Several characters are of my own invention. Thank you!

Now on with the story and sorry for the long note :)

* * *

**Chapter 01 – The Daily Prophet**

The sweltering heat of the hot summer day placed a drowsy silence over the usually cold and gloomy interior of number 12 Grimmauld Place, London. The grimy windows of the house sat wide open, hoping to tempt in an inexistent breath of cold air. The main living room at the front of the house overlooked an empty and quiet street, watching a near perfect sunset over the darkening treetops as the burning day drew to a close under vermillion skies.

The faint buzzing sound of an electric fan was mingling with the monotone voices expelling from an old wireless radio which was tuned into the Wizarding Wireless Network. The noise echoed through the black and empty halls of the ancient house. A soft ruffle of papers interrupted the sleepy tune. Bony hands with long slender fingers turned the page of a magical newspaper that read _The Daily Prophet_ while by wandless and nonverbal magic the reader turned the volume of the wireless on a little louder.

Hot air grazed his fingers as he turned to yet another page of the Prophet. His bony hand raked through his light brown hair. Oceanic blue eyes pierced the black inked words on the grey paper while his thin lips muttered the word "_Lies_," under his warm breath. His scattered mind weakly registered the scent of flowers in the room but he could not identify which kind. The scent was soon drowned by the smell of ink and parchment from the paper in front of him.

"…and we'd like to remind everyone to keep alert of the escaped werewolves currently on the loose in London. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement is quickly rounding up these individuals but it is wise to be warned that werewolves are dangerous creatures and even if not under the full moon's transformation, _will still attack_…" the urgent but emotionless voice of a man sounded from the wireless sitting on the side table.

"Werewolves," his gentle voice sighed. He was speaking to himself again and it was becoming a bad habit. "Werewolves again." As his eyes grazed over familiar names and faces of wanted werewolves in the pages of the Daily Prophet's Monday Edition, the voice of the speaker on the wireless continued on—he was now listing names of known and dangerous werewolves.

"…Bartol Fell, Fenrir Greyback, Lucian Hart, Selene Hawkins, Ralph Martin…"

"Oi, Remus."

His eyes looked up and instantly, gentle blue eyes found piercing grey ones. "Hello Sirius," Remus replied, turning to another page of the paper.

Sirius hopped gracefully upon an old but admittedly comfortable sofa across from the overstuffed armchair Remus was occupying. He lay on his belly and turned his head towards his best friend while pushing back his fringe of raven black hair from his darkly handsome face. "I can't find where Lexi's put the alcohol," said Sirius.

"That's because she doesn't _want_ you to find it, Padfoot," Remus said placidly.

"Twat," Sirius snorted.

"Silvia threatened to hex Lexi with dancing legs if she gave you any alcohol." Finally, Remus folded his paper back and peered overtop the print at Sirius. "You remember what happened at your wedding?"

"How come dear _Nymphadora_ got some yesterday? She was taunting me with it!"

Remus shrugged, hiding a smile behind his newspaper.

"Why didn't _you_ tell Lexi not to give her any like Silvia did for me?" Sirius demanded. "Tonks was just as wild at my wedding! She thought she was a hippogriff for god's sake!"

It was a miracle Remus wasn't laughing hysterically from the fond memory. "Because I am not married to her and therefore have no authority to tell her what she can and cannot drink."

"Marriage," Sirius groaned. "When will you tie the knot with my cousin anyways? Technically speaking, you two have dated longer than Silvia and I before we got together."

A vibrant blush crept onto Remus's cheeks and he remained quiet behind his paper. Strangely, Sirius had grown tactful and considerate after getting married and simply smiled, as he decided to tread onto a new topic. He pushed himself up and looked around the dark and gloomy living room where cobwebs served as decorations and peeling wallpaper was a norm. His eyes then fell upon the Daily Prophet in Remus's hands where on the front cover was a massive picture of Sirius's godson, Harry Potter, and a bold, moving title:

**BOY WHO LIES?** The title shifted by magic saying: **FUDGE: "ALL IS WELL"**

"What's the Prophet saying these days anyways?" Sirius asked.

"More lies about Dumbledore and Harry," Remus sighed. He folded the paper and tossed it aside onto another pile beside the unused fireplace where previous days' papers were stacking high. "They're trying to make them look like lunatics."

Sirius shook his head. "Wankers," he grumbled.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Sirius continued to look around the room and Remus began actually listening to the pointless babble on the wireless sitting upon a side table.

"Strange, I never noticed how much Silvia tries to brighten the place up."

Remus looked up and immediately noticed Sirius picking up a small vase of daisies. He too had been seeing them around the house very often lately. They'd only been living in Grimmauld Place for a few days but already the drear and gloom was becoming too much. A vase of daisies here and there really did help.

"Daisies," Sirius smiled, thinking about his lovely wife. He poked gently at the yellow and white flower, glowing amidst the all-black room. "It means…beauty, doesn't it?"

"It means simplicity and innocence, Sirius," Remus smiled, shifting to the edge of his seat. "Goodness man, learn the meaning of flowers for your wife's sake!" he teased.

Sirius shrugged. "Just because _she's_ a flower expert doesn't mean I should be."

"How are you two anyways?" Remus asked. "Doing all right?"

Pensive for a brief moment, Sirius nodded. "Wonderful, yes," he said. "I asked her to take a desk job, pregnant, you know?" Sirius made a hand gesture around his midriff of a pregnant belly that made Remus laugh. "She told me she's got it sorted out." He smiled. "You and Tonksie all right then? I heard your little spat a few nights ago."

Shaking his head dismissively, Remus shifted again. "She doesn't like the place."

"No surprise there," Sirius agreed. "Lexi's been in a perpetually foul mood since we moved in here." He paused to look around at the black curtains and decaying state of his old living room. "Can't say I'm fond of it myself…but it's safe…." He cleared his throat and nodded for a moment. "What about you? You look thoughtful; something on your mind, Moony?"

"How do you know?"

"I had to sleep in the same dorm as you for seven years. I think I'd know."

Stifling a soft laugh, Remus shook his head. "The Prophet," he began. "_And_ the wireless, are both reporting an increase in werewolf activities and crimes."

"Ah, the never ending werewolf problem," Sirius sighed, kicking back and listening.

Remus continued undisturbed. "I'm worried," he admitted. "You recall the last war, what Voldemort was trying to accomplish with the werewolves?"

He rested his chin on his hand and Sirius nodded contemplatively. "And you think that this time around, he may have already succeeded in convincing them to join his fight."

"I know he convinced Greyback a long time ago," said Remus in a low voice.

"So what do you think they're here in London for? They can't be waiting—"

The sound of the front door bursting open caught their attention. Apprehensively, Remus and Sirius shot up to their feet, their wand in hand and they were carefully heading towards the hallway. Remus briefly wondered who had come by. His question was answered when he saw a blur of raven black hair in front of him. Quickly, his blue eyes followed and he found Alexis Black, pixie-like and darkly beautiful like the other women in her family, quickly ascending the staircase, stomping with each step she took. She was fuming and livid.

"Alexis! Alexis!" her worried boyfriend, Marrick Kingston, tall and muscular with disheveled dark brown hair and a deep, rich voice was calling after her. "Wait!"

Stunned, Remus could only watch. He looked up at the staircase just like Sirius was doing with his mouth agape. Alexis had halted her ascension and glared down at Marrick. "Just because you love _your_ job doesn't mean I should love mine! What did you expect me to do?" she exclaimed. "Turn away and pretend nothing happened?"

"It didn't give you the right to hex him!" Marrick called to her.

"Rookwood is a bloody idiot! He deserved it!"

"Don't be so childish," Marrick sighed.

"That was a mistake," Remus heard Sirius say beside him.

As if she was flying, Alexis glided down the staircase, her eyes holding a gaze that bordered malevolence. "ROOKWOOD SENT MY BEST UNSPEAKABLE TO THE BLOODY HOSPITAL! HE'S LUCKY I DIDN'T SEND HIM TO AZKABAN AND BELIEVE ME, I HAVE ENOUGH DIRT ON HIM TO DO SO IF I WANTED TO!" Alexis was shrieking at the top of her lungs. The sheer volume of her voice had even drowned out the insults Walburga Black's portrait was screaming at them upon her arousal. "I CAN'T BE A SAINT LIKE YOU AND PEACEFULLY SORT EVERY BLOODY THING OUT!" Before Sirius or Remus could realize what just happened, Alexis was flying up the stairs again, Marrick close in pursuit, trying to calm her down. "SHUT UP WOMAN!" she screamed at Sirius's mother and as if by magic, all the screaming came to an abrupt end at the sound of another slamming door.

"What just happened?" Remus questioned, still staring at the empty staircase.

"I don't know," said Sirius softly. "But she's going to bring the whole house down if she keeps closing doors like that."

Remus turned to his best friend and shook his head. "Your cousin is angry and you're worried about your doors?" he asked and felt a strange temptation to laugh. Remus distracted his thoughts with something else soon after. Alexis kept mentioning the name Rookwood lately and she was always getting mad at _Rookwood_….

Sirius was laughing and shaking his head saying, "Marrick is so whipped."

"Now what do you think Rookwood is up to?" Remus asked, catching Sirius by surprise. "Before, we don't often hear Alexis speak of him. She rarely gets mad. Now, she's always coming home angry at something Rookwood did wrong. Do you think something's up?"

Falling back onto his sofa, Sirius made a face. "Now that you mention it…"

He was interrupted by the wireless which had somehow increased in volume, causing Remus to jump slightly. Their attention turned to the old rectangular box sitting on top of the side table while a wizard's voice sounded.

"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you breaking news. Two aurors, females by what we can see, are currently in pursuit of a dangerous and armed werewolf—"

"Oh not this again," Sirius groaned. "Honestly Remus, you're already afraid of yourself enough. Why must you always listen to this rubbish?"

"Wait, hush," said Remus quickly. He strode across the space of the living room and came down to his knees beside the wireless, listening with rapt attention. "Werewolves have been active in London lately. If we listen we might come across more information."

* * *

_CRASH!_

"Shite!"

"Tonks!"

The entire right side of her body felt like it had gone numb—she'd just tackled a massive dumpster out of the way after all. But yet, despite the numbness that was spreading from her arm to her back, she was still running, her feet stamping hard on the concrete ground, propelling her forward with each step.

A gasp, a sharp turn, and an ungainly dive, it was her only option. Under the setting sun casting shadows over the city of London, her bubblegum pink hair glistened and swept by in a blur behind her as she ran. She grunted and drew in a sharp breath to make herself continue running. Her right hand was gripping her wand so tightly it was a miracle it didn't snap under the pressure. She grinded her teeth as she felt her legs pleading for her to stop and her lungs were gasping for air desperately. She couldn't stop yet, not until she catch the ruddy git who'd put her on a foot chase through London city for the past half hour.

Another _crash_!

"Silv!" said Tonks, turning to the side to look for her partner. "All right?" She was more worried about Silvia's safety than her own. Tonks wasn't the one running with a pregnant belly.

"Fine," her friend, breathed in a rich Spanish accent and a blur of dark brown hair.

"Stop! You're under arrest!" Tonks shouted as if her words could stop the criminal.

In front of the two aurors, a man was running. His shabby and torn robes several sizes too big were billowing behind him. It was fortunate for them that he had no wand because he'd just made a sharp turn into an alley on the side of the street where he'd be able to disapparate without drawing any more attention to himself. Tonks's emerald green eyes glistened at the opportunity. She body slammed the opposite wall of the alley as she turned and smiled when she saw that Silvia had gracefully swerved on her feet and was still right beside her. Tonks wished she had coordination that good.

"Round him," said Silvia and she made another turn into an intersecting alley.

Not wasting any time, Tonks whirled her wand in a circle and inhaled a deep breath. The next moment, she was floating in a cloud of glowing white smoke, her bodily appearance only faintly visible—she was in her half apparition state. It was easier for her to maneuver in that state, oddly, as it was a challenge to most people. Tonks swept through the alley, felt her feet running upon the walls as she made another turn, her eyes on her target, a balding man with brown hair and scars everywhere skin was visible. She agilely leapt over another dumpster only to fall into a pile of black plastic trash bags. Fortunately, in her glowing white state, it was easy for her to disentangle herself from the mess.

Soon, Tonks was on her feet again, running with a revived burst of energy. She knew Silvia was near. The Spanish auror knew her way around London better than most. "Fell!" Tonks yelled, skidding to a halt at the turn of an alley. Her target kept running.

On the other side of the narrow alley where Fell was running to, Tonks saw a blur of dark brown hair and a darkly beautiful face glitter with sweat under the moonlight.

"_STUPEFY!_" the two women roared.

From the ends of their wands on the two sides of the alley, a jet of brilliant red light exploded and created the sound of a gunshot. The light struck the man in the middle directly in the front and back, a clear attack. There was a scream and he fell to the side, flopping against the brick wall like a rag doll and slid onto the ground, unconscious. Tonks and Silvia exchanged glances and apprehensively made their way over to him.

"_Incarcerous_," said Tonks and from the tip of her sword-like wand, a set of ropes appeared which then magically bounded the man lying unconscious on the dirty ground.

"Oh that was a workout," Silvia sighed and leaned back against the other side of the wall, her right hand twirling her wand while her left wiped the sweat off her forehead and then rested protectively upon her pregnant belly.

"I don't like running," Tonks groaned and sloppily mopped up her own face of sweat.

"Shacklebolt!" Silvia called.

They waited for a short moment. The unconscious man twitched slightly, his face wearing an eternal expression of pain. Looking at him, Tonks couldn't help but notice the traits he shared with Remus Lupin, her own lover and a werewolf himself. The man on the ground had scars, jagged, painful scars that were old but gleamed under the light of the moon. Tonks drew a long sigh. Remus had many scars as well.

"Bloody hell," a deep and reassuring voice breathed. Tonks looked up and found Kingsley Shacklebolt, bald, black, and breathless, doubled over as he gasped for air. His gold loop earring twinkled like a star under the cold silver moon. "You two run fast!"

"Where's Dawlish?" Silvia asked, looking around.

"He probably got lost," said Kingsley. "I had a hard time finding where you'd run off to myself! Luckily I could follow the sound of Tonks crashing."

Tonks snorted indignantly and ran a hand through her bubblegum pink mane. "We caught Bartol Fell," she smiled. "Finally got a lead."

"Two homicides and one disappearance, we better wrap up this case quickly—"

Bartol Fell suddenly stirred awake, his eyes barely open. Without warning, he began screaming at the top of his lungs, growling and struggling against the ropes that bound him. "Where is she?" he cried. "Where is that bitch?"

Silvia turned to Tonks asking, "Is he talking about you or me?"

"I don't think it's either of us," said Tonks. "Bloody hell the muggles are going to here." She pointed her wand at him and said, "_Silencio_." Tonks turned sharply back to Kingsley. "You're going to have to interrogate him thoroughly. He's talking about a woman I think. Silvia and I heard him calling after someone as we were chasing him."

"What's her name?" Kingsley asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's Selene Hawkins. She's the only female werewolf we have on the list," said Silvia pensively. "I wonder what all these werewolves are doing in London."

Kingsley leaned in closer to the two of them, whispering, "I think you should ask Remus. He keeps an eye out for these things and is familiar with werewolf activities. He might know."

Tonks nodded. "I'm planning on asking him when we get back to Grimmauld."

John Dawlish suddenly showed up, huffing and wheezing. A tough-looking wizard with very short, wiry grey hair; most would think he was very capable. However, having worked with him for many cases, Tonks and Silvia both found the thought rather deceiving.

"You got him," said Dawlish. "We should take him back to the Ministry, Shacklebolt."

"Of course," Kingsley nodded. "Silvia, you all right?" She nodded and he continued. "You and Tonks should head home. Tonks, owl me if Silvia gets anything." He walked over with Dawlish to where Bartol Fell laid, struggling silently. There was a loud _crack_ and they disapparated on the spot.

"John looks rather pale," said Silvia softly.

"_You_ look rather pale," Tonks replied. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Goodness Tonks, I'm pregnant, not injured," Silvia smiled and they began walking out of the alley. "I know when I can't take it anymore."

"How long are you going to keep lying to Sirius about that desk job anyways?"

"Oh bugger!" Silvia exclaimed. She suddenly unsheathed her wand again and began charming up several stacks of papers and folders for herself. "Guess I better clean myself up too, right?" she laughed and with another wave of her wand, cleaned up her face and removed the blush. Tonks was staring at her, her mouth agape.

"I need to learn how to do that," she said. "I've been blushing too much lately."

"That's because we keep teasing you and Remus," Silvia smiled. "Don't take it personally. We all just need a little more laughter as of late. Grimmauld Place is so…"

"Stop!"

"What?"

Tonks didn't have time to explain. She was running again, her eyes on a woman who had been watching them. Had that young woman been there the entire time, listening to their conversation after the arrest? Tonks drew her wand but she was unable to do anything. The other woman also had a wand and with a faint _pop_ in the night, she disapparated. All that Tonks could really see of her was a frail, slim and slender figure with dark blonde hair and faded scars that glistened under the moonlight marring a pretty face.

Silvia hurried up to her side as Tonks stopped again. "Who was that?" her friend asked.

"I think she may have been Hawkins," said Tonks. "Selene Hawkins."

"And she has a wand. That's new information—we should tell Kingsley of that soon."

Blankly nodding, Tonks said, "Yeah, we should." Her mind remained on the woman. There was something weird about her and Tonks just couldn't explain why. "Hey Silv, do you think Hawkins may be involved with Fell's case?"

"The case, no. But personally, yes." Glancing at Tonks's bemused expression, Silvia continued. "Fell was calling for her so he most likely knows her. But all the evidence we've gathered in his case proved that the two homicides are evidence of only one werewolf's doing. With Fell's hair, it points to only him. Hawkins may be involved in another case."

Tonks sighed. "Let's go home then…see what the Marauders have been up to."

* * *

Songbirds were perched upon the wooden birdfeeder Alexis had hung outside the front living room window. Their songs were soft and slow, blending in sweetly with the everyday drone of the fan and the wireless. Remus and Sirius would cut into the drone as they called out various moves for the protesting chess pieces on the board below, continuing on with their game that had been going on for at least an hour.

"Knight to E5," said Remus. A bird called shrilly outside.

"Rook to F3," Sirius countered, muttering something about the bird crying outside.

"Um, queen to H4, check."

"Ha!" Sirius suddenly jumped and Remus realized what mistake he'd just made when his white pieces protested against his move while Sirius's black pieces were cheering happily. "Rook to F7, checkmate! In your face Moony!"

Remus was laughing as Sirius began dancing around the room, cheering and throwing his hands in the air as the chess pieces began to rearrange themselves. His soft blue eyes turned to the open window and behind the two swallows that were just flying away by the loud ruckus, Remus could see two women cross the wonky iron gate of Grimmauld Place, approaching the stone steps. He bounced up to his feet instantly, the woes of his pitiful defeat by Sirius forgotten.

"Oh look, the wife's home," Sirius smiled and followed Remus to the hallway.

The door clicked open and Remus grinned as his vision was covered by a blur of bright, bubblegum pink. Her warm arms wrapped around his neck as he weaved his own arms around her waist, holding her tightly and deeply inhaling her scent—she smelled of sweet lavender and street. She'd been outside. When Remus finally let go, he saw that Sirius had helped Silvia into the kitchen where he removed the tottering pile of paperwork from her hands and began making tea together, husband and wife.

"Happy to see me?" Tonks questioned him and he nodded too many times. "How was your day?" she asked, leading him to the kitchen. Tonks tripped over the troll-leg umbrella stand and flailed towards the ground. Fortunately, Remus was holding onto her and caught her just in time before she woke up the sleeping portrait of Walburga Black, Sirius's mother who would shriek insults at them. Remus helped Tonks into the kitchen where they took their seats across from Sirius and Silvia, bickering softly over which tea to use.

"Spent most of the day reading," Remus answered. "Then Sirius destroyed part of the house when he turned into Snuffles." Sirius indignantly yelled, "I did not!" but Remus continued on. "Then I lost pitifully to Sirius in a game of chess."

Tonks was laughing. Remus felt his heart swell and dance. Her smile always did that to him and the feeling never faded even after so long. He loves it. "You were also reading the rubbish in the Prophet, weren't you?"

"How'd you know?"

"That pile of old newspapers in the living room is stacking up, Remus."

"Yeah, Tonks tripped over it last night," Silvia smiled causing Tonks to blush.

"Any news then Remus?" Tonks asked. "Silvia and I haven't had time to look at the paper this morning. Oh and I don't want to hear anymore about how much the Prophet is trashing Dumbledore and Harry. I mean just last year they were worshipping the ground he walked on and now this." She shook her head. "Bloody wankers."

"Fudge has been influencing the Prophet to portray Harry as a madman," said Silvia, tapping the kettle on the stove with her wand, causing it to squeal while emitting steam. "He's also convinced Dumbledore wants his job. Fudge is insane I tell you."

"I don't know what news there is to talk about then," Remus sighed. "Other than that…"

Sirius cut in as he took a hasty seat beside his wife and put four steaming cups of tea in between them. "Oh no, no," he said. "Other than Fudge's paranoia and lies in the Prophet, Remus is worried about something else. Why don't you tell them about that, mate?"

Remus shook his head and shot Sirius a sharp look but Tonks caught his eyes and his expression fell. "Werewolves…there has been a rise in werewolf crimes."

"We know that," said Tonks. She exchanged a knowing glance with Silvia before continuing. "Kingsley, Dawlish and I had just arrested Bartol Fell before coming home."

"Two homicides and one disappearance," Silvia further explained.

"How do you know?" Sirius queried, turning to his wife as he placed his arm around her.

"I work in the office. When a frustrating case comes up, that's all they talk about," she told him. Remus noticed the way her hazel eyes were staring at the vase of daisies on the kitchen counter instead of Sirius's eyes. He knew she was lying but he felt it unwise to start another fight between the married couple.

"Oh yes, desk job," Sirius smiled.

"Why were you worried?" Tonks asked quickly, taking Remus's hand.

He drew a long breath and looked at them with a serious gaze. "From what we know of the last war," Remus looked to Sirius. "We think Voldemort may be trying to convince the werewolves to join his side. That might be why they're gathering here in London and when many werewolves are together, violence and chaos ensues."

"What does You-Know-Who plan to do with werewolves?" Tonks questioned.

"We don't know," Remus answered. "Though on the full moon, well, you know." He was grim and Tonks saw his eyes turn to a particularly nasty scar of his on the back of his hand.

"What did You-Know-Who try to do with the werewolves in the last war?" It was Silvia speaking that time and Remus raised his head slightly to face her.

"Most werewolves are aggressive and will attack without thinking, even if the moon isn't up. He's probably trying to use them to do things that Death Eaters can't do in the open. Especially now since Voldemort is using the fact that the Ministry is denying his return to his advantage. He's working in the shadows and he doesn't want his Death Eaters exposed either."

"But they don't have wands," said Tonks. "Or most don't. Fell didn't."

"They don't _need_ wands," Sirius spoke up. "Fenrir Greyback…I've seen him once and his grizzly claws are enough to kill someone."

"Despicable," said Remus quietly. Self-conscious, he pulled his hand back from Tonks but she stubbornly took hold and pulled him back. Silently, they'd once again settled an argument before it began. Tonks had grown to understand him too well.

"Remus," Silvia began. She had noticed Remus's fragile state when speaking about werewolves and was talking delicately. "What happens when a lot of werewolves are together?"

"They get extremely aggressive," he answered slowly, stroking Tonks's hand and the handle of his warm cup of tea. "The rivalries between the packs may also cause a lot of trouble."

"Rivalries between packs?" Sirius asked, surprised.

"Correction, rivalries overall," Remus replied.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Tonks wondered.

"Well, in a wolf pack, a lot of the stronger ones want to become Alpha, the leader, and so they fight over that. Then between the packs, they may be trying to prove dominance over one another…" He paused and licked his lips before warily explaining, "Animal nature…they want to show dominance. So violence breaks out between packs and their surrounding becomes an unsuspecting battlefield." He drew a breath.

Beside him, Tonks was holding onto his arm and rubbing comforting circles upon his back. She always knew that speaking about werewolves was a touchy topic with Remus and they wouldn't try to ask him if they could get information anywhere else. He relaxed under her warm hands and began sipping his tea gently.

"I'm taking a bath," said Tonks after a while. "I'm knackered! Running is hard work!"

Her footsteps made the water in the vase of daisies ripple and she carefully made her way to the stairs, trying hard to avoid tripping over the troll-leg umbrella stand, again.

"Hey Moony, what usually happens as an outcome of these rivalries?" Sirius asked.

Soothed by Tonks, Remus was slightly more comfortable talking about it. "Killing," he answered. "Either they kill members from other packs or kill the innocent. It's whichever way they can prove their dominance and I think they've gotten more creative over the years."

"You're right on that one, Remus," Silvia sighed and both Marauders turned to her. "Just the other day the Auror Office found a house ransacked and destroyed as if by an animal. Two people, mother and father, were brutally murdered." She looked absolutely disgusted as she recalled the incident. "Flesh was torn and their insides…no, I'm not going there but you get the idea." She sighed. "It wasn't on a full moon though. Atticus Page from Lexi's department confirmed the time of death for us with a new device they created. The husband and wife were murdered on the thirtieth of June." Silvia took a breath. "Where _is_ Lexi anyways? Is she home yet? I need to ask her a bit more about that device."

"Err, you don't want to yet honey," said Sirius, resting one elbow on the table. "She came home screaming at Marrick for defending Rookwood. Apparently he cocked something up again. They're upstairs I think, I heard the door slam."

"Oh," said Silvia, disappointed. "Well I guess she _does_ have a lot to worry about. Rookwood's just messed up the whole security system to her department anyways. If someone breaks in, Lexi will be in huge trouble."

Remus's face grew thoughtful as he continued to drink his tea, unaware of the new conversation at hand. His mind was still thinking about the werewolf problem and when he spoke, he drew Sirius and Silvia's attention back to the topic. "That's weird," he said. "The animalistic attacks usually don't happen until the full moon."

There was a pause as the Spanish auror regained her thoughts and said, "That's not all. The family had a son, seven years old at the most, and the son was missing. Tonks's team searched the whole house but couldn't find him."

"Greyback," Remus muttered under his breath.

Silvia heard him and shook her head. "It wasn't Greyback. Tonks's team arrested Bartol Fell tonight. All the evidence we found points to him as the murderer. Kingsley's interrogating him for the location of where he kept the child."

"Are you sure he was working alone?" Remus questioned.

"Positive." Silvia nodded. "The Department is trailing more attacks but we're all certain this one is entirely Bartol Fell."

"How do you know so much?" Sirius asked, gazing into his wife's eyes.

Remus saw Silvia's eyes flicker to the vase of flowers. "Desk job, I have to sort out all the evidence and reports. I don't go on the field but I still take part in the case, love."

He kept what he noticed quiet from Sirius. Remus knew Silvia wouldn't enjoy a desk job and hoped she knew her limits. "This is really strange," he said, continuing on with the discussion. "Attack the parents, take the child, this seems more like Greyback's work method."

Leaning back and placing a hand upon her stomach, Silvia shrugged and sighed. Just a second after, a white snowy owl swooped through the open window and glided daintily onto the wooden table, standing just in front of Sirius. Despite what Remus expected to see, Sirius didn't smile upon the sight. Instead, he sighed and groaned quietly.

"Hello Hedwig," he greeted. "I'm beginning to regret my decision of telling Harry to write more often. He's been asking what's going on, what's happening, and what we're doing."

"But Dumbledore asked us specifically to keep Harry out of this," said Remus gently.

"I know," Sirius groaned. "I feel terribly lying to him though. I mean, he deserves to know, doesn't he? He's the one who told us Voldemort's back."

"He's only a kid, Sirius," Silvia comforted and helped him take the letter from Hedwig's outstretched leg. "He's not even fifteen."

"But he's strong, he should know."

"He's not James, Sirius," said Silvia. Hazel eyes met his grey ones and she silenced him.

"Just keep things vague," Remus advised, finishing his tea and clearing away his cup.

Sirius had summoned up a set of parchment and quill. "Thanks Moony, keep it vague. Silv, you help me write then. You're always better with words than I was."

Sensing that the moment had grown private, Remus smiled, slid his chair back, and got up to leave the kitchen. As he walked away, he could still hear Sirius and Silvia's conversation.

"_You're_ the godfather, you understand him more."

"But a mother's word is _always_ better. Well not my mother," Sirius laughed but his voice was gentle. "Just write the letter with me. Here, I'll hold the parchment for you and you write."

As he ascended the stairs, Remus found himself laughing and shaking his head. Despite the dreariness of Grimmauld Place, they still managed to laugh and smile every day, never forgetting that it was because they'd forgotten to trust each other in the last war that led to their downfall. On the second landing, Remus was surprised when he found Tonks's head, mousy brown and drenched wet, sticking out of the bathroom door. He smiled when he saw her.

"Hello Nymphadora."

She grinned. "Wotcher Remus," she replied.

"What are you doing?" he questioned, amused.

"I forgot a towel. And…I figured since no one would see me, I was going to risk it and run to the linen closet. But since you're here," her grin widened. "Can you help me? Please?"

Remus was suppressing and extremely tempting urge to laugh. "So you're telling me that you're dripping wet and naked right now and you were about to risk everything and sprint down the hall to the linen closet?" He raised an eyebrow.

Under his inquisitive gaze, Tonks was blushing scarlet. "Oh shut up," she said. "Can you please get me a towel? I'm getting kind of cold in here."

"All right," he said. "Which one's the linen closet?" He walked to the left of the bathroom door where two more doors were closed shut, looking identical to one another.

"The one on the left," said Tonks. She looked straight out of the bathroom and watched as Remus reached for the door. Her eyes widened. "No! My left! Not yours!" she was too late.

His hand had turned the doorknob and Remus pushed the door open before Tonks could tell him that she'd meant _her_ left hand, not his. The smile on his face fell immediately and was rapidly replaced by a horrified expression as he looked into the room that Alexis had claimed earlier that morning. Inside, he briefly saw a blur of navy blue blankets and skin, lots of skin.

"Bloody hell!" someone's hoarse and breathless voice screamed from the other side of the bed, hidden from his view.

"Remus!" Tonks called as Remus slammed the door shut, blushing beat red.

He turned back to face her, wide-eyed. "I think I just walked in on Lexi and Marrick."

Tonks's hands flew up to her mouth as she tried to suppress or at least muffle her hysterical laughter. Her eyes were swelling with tears and she shook her head as Remus dazedly open the other door and withdrew a fresh white towel. He made his way back to her, his expression unchanging. It took Tonks another five minutes before she could calm herself.

"I can't believe you walked in on my cousin," she managed to utter.

"I can't believe it myself," he sighed, looking utterly embarrassed.

"You're right Remus, you _are_ a Marauder."

Remus raised an eyebrow and said, "You did it on purpose."

Her heart-shaped face was glowing red and she was shaking her head. "In all honesty, I didn't know which door was which either. We've only been here for a few days after all."

A sly smirk appeared upon his face when Tonks reached for the towel. He backed away, pulling the towel out of her reach, and looked back at her with a passive smile.

"Hey, you said it's good to laugh! You said that even in war, life goes on and to laugh all the way through it." She was impressed at how she could memorize his words so clearly.

"Yes, I did, but…Lexi's going to hate me now."

"Come on Remus, give me the bloody towel," she groaned.

He thought for a moment then said, "No."

"Don't make me embarrass you again," she warned.

"How can you embarrass me more than you already did?" He immediately regretted it.

Unexpectedly, Tonks flung the bathroom door open, stood briefly in front of him with a fake look of anger and her arms akimbo. Remus's heart must have burst as all the blood in his body rushed up to his face. He gulped. Tonks swiftly took the towel out of his hands and ran back into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her, leaving only small, wet footprints on the floor where she'd walked upon.

There was a loud snort from Walburga Black's portrait.

"Hey! Don't slam my doors!" Sirius's voice called up from downstairs.

But Remus couldn't hear Sirius. He could only hear Tonks, on the other side of the door.

"Remus, sometimes I wonder what stage of a relationship we're at," Tonks laughed.

"S-same," he uttered weakly, swallowing again.

* * *

Morning came in all its glory with the magnificent sun rising from the east and the sound of birds singing in the summer warmth. The open window had finally succeeded in tempting in a breath of cold air that stroked his sleepy face gently. He slowly came to wake, blinking several times and cringing against the sheer brilliance of the sun's light that spilled through the entire room from the window. When he opened his eyes, he was looking up at the ceiling. It was weird. The golden sunlight made the old and black room kind of beautiful in an antiquated sort of way.

"Morning Remus," Tonks muttered, her head buried in their pillow.

He turned to his side and faced her. All he could see of her face was a mass of long, obsidian black hair. Remus smiled as she shifted under the blanket. Waking up beside her and wondering about her colorful hair was always a good start to another day.

"Good morning Nymphadora," he replied and she grumbled about the use of her name. "Why is it black this morning?" he asked out of sheer curiosity.

"I had a weird dream," she made a muffled noise into her pillow.

"What'd you dream about?"

She turned to face him. "You'd think I'm weird…weirder than I already am," she smiled.

"No I won't," he assured her.

"Too bad, I'm not telling you." She sat up and pulled him up with her. Tonks stuck her tongue out at him as she stretched and grinned at the brilliant yellow duck upon her turquoise blue t-shirt she'd slept in. "I think blonde is good for today."

He smiled. Remus always found her so interesting.

"I think blonde would be lovely," he told her and she closed her eyes to morph.

Cimmerian black hair morphed to beautiful, curly blonde in the same shade as her father's. Remus smiled and took her hand as they lingered upon the warm mattress under the glorious morning light. Remus didn't want to get off and he could tell that neither did Tonks.

_BANG!_

"Kids!"

"FILTH! SCUM! WEREWOLVES AND BLOOD TRAITORS, IN MY HOUSE!"

Remus and Tonks jumped off their bed and hurried downstairs, their wand in their hand and they were struggling to straighten out their clothes. Walburga Black's screams had echoed through the black and empty halls of Grimmauld, scaring away all the birds and rudely waking up all of its sleepy occupants. At the stairs, Remus ran into a sleepy and yawning Sirius who was lazily dragging himself downstairs. Alexis was already at the foot of the stairs wearing a silver dressing gown with a toothbrush in her mouth, looking wide awake.

"Shut up!" Sirius groaned and with Remus's help, wrenched the black curtain closed over his mother's portrait, stunning her and silencing her. "KREACHER!" he bellowed, angry.

Tonks jumped back a step when the old house elf suddenly apparated right in front of them, bowing down so low that his long nose was touching the ground. "Yes, master," he answered in a low, reproachful tone, speaking to his feet rather than Sirius.

"What happened?" Sirius demanded.

"Kreacher, go back to your den," Alexis commanded from downstairs.

It has become obvious to Remus and Tonks that Kreacher was much friendlier to Alexis whose name was strangely not blasted off the family tree, unlike Sirius who remained a black scorch mark upon the doxie infested tapestry in the drawing room. He disapparated back to where he slept in the kitchen with a malevolent smirk towards Sirius, Tonks, and Remus.

"Lexi! What the hell?"

"It's not Kreacher. It was Fred and George making the noise."

"Fred and George?" Tonks mumbled. "Wait, Weasleys?"

Together in a stampede, Remus, Tonks, and Sirius made their way down to the bottom landing and crowded with Alexis into the narrow hallway. There they saw a mass of red heads pushing each other into the house, dragging with them many trunks, rucksacks, and briefcases. Behind them all, Tonks could spot Mad-Eye Moody, limping through the crowd.

"Tonks!" Molly Weasley's voice sounded and Tonks suddenly found herself drowned in a hug. "Alexis dear! Remus, Sirius! Where is Silvia?" Molly asked, smiling up at Sirius.

"She's upstairs," he answered with a wry smile. He was utterly surprised to see so many Weasleys adding color to his dreary house. "How are you Molly—Arthur?"

"Good, good," Arthur grinned. "Listen, sorry we dropped in so suddenly," he explained through all the noise his children were making as they pushed themselves around the hallway and fell into the living room.

"It's all right, really," Sirius smiled as Remus and Tonks greeted all the children. "But wait, what are you doing here so early in the morning?"

"They're moving in," Mad-Eye grunted as he shuffled into the kitchen. "It's safer for them especially with so many children. It's more convenient too."

"Wonderful!" Sirius was still in slight shock from his loud awakening and seeing so many red heads at once first thing in the morning. "The more the merrier!"

"Thank you Sirius," Molly smiled gratefully and followed them into the kitchen with Arthur close behind her, speaking with Mad-Eye about something.

Remus and Tonks exchanged a furtive glance and turned back to all the Weasley children. Ginny was still pulling her trunk into the living room with Ron's help while Fred and George were preoccupied in an animated conversation with Alexis. "Looks like you won't have to worry about not having enough smiles or laughs anymore," Tonks told Remus, grinning.

"Like Sirius said: the more the merrier. In times of war, it's better to stick together."

Tonks giggled and turned to Bill Weasley, the eldest of all Molly and Arthur's kids. "Wotcher Bill, back from Egypt?"

"Yeah, I think for good." His smile was torn between longing and happiness. "Mad-Eye's letting me join the Order to help. And I've taken a job at Gringotts."

"Brilliant!" Tonks grinned.

"Hello Remus."

"Hello Bill," Remus replied, shaking hands warmly with him.

"Wait a minute, one, two…five, and Molly and Arthur, seven, you're missing two Weasleys," she told Bill with an inquisitive gaze.

"Oh, Charlie's still in Romania," Bill smiled. "He couldn't bear to leave the dragons."

"What about Percy?" Remus asked, remembering the missing Weasley, his old student.

The smile on Bill's face fell and Remus wondered if he'd said something wrong. Tonks watched as Bill looked around then leaned in and whispered to them. "Percy's been promoted."

"Isn't that a good thing?" she asked.

Bill shook his head. "Not when the Minister is using him to spy on us. Percy's turned against mum and dad, saying they're crazy for believing Dumbledore that You-Know-Who's back. He's siding with the Ministry. It's a touchy topic so try not to bring it up. Mum was crying the other night and dad never looked so angry when Percy moved out."

"Sorry," said Remus and Tonks together, feeling terrible.

Once all the Weasleys were finally settled in and Molly had won a warmhearted fight with Silvia over who was making breakfast, everyone gathered at the long kitchen table and began downing the warm food, talking amiably to each other, catching up, and telling jokes. Remus and Tonks kept to themselves most of the time, still rather stunned that within an hour, they were suddenly living with seven more people.

"Um, Alexis," Tonks heard Remus call. She looked up to see Remus turn to face Alexis who was seated beside the kitchen window with Fred and George, whistling to a bird who was perched outside upon a wooden bird feeder she'd placed there.

"Hello Remus."

"Err, about last night," he began, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck.

Tonks couldn't help but grin and she was hiding her face in her hands, trying desperately not to laugh. Ginny obviously noticed and asked, "Tonks, are you all right? What's so funny?"

"Shh, it's a really long story. Now's not a good time but I promise I'll tell you later."

Satisfied, Ginny nodded and smiled.

"Sorry about last night, Alexis," Remus apologized and Tonks shook her head. He was always so noble. "Um, where's Marrick."

"It's fine Remus," Alexis smiled. "Marrick went home last night after Sirius teased us."

"Oh, err, all right."

Tonks couldn't hold it anymore and accidentally let out a loud snort, causing Sirius to laugh on the other side of the table. She hid her face in Remus's arm and laughed to him, telling him in muffled speech how noble he was. "You're so strange," she said.

"I was being polite," he replied, taking her hand. "And you're just mean."

"Best keep an eye out for all the protection spells, Sirius," Tonks heard Mad-Eye say as he took a seat across from her beside Sirius. "Things are getting pretty serious now."

She thought that Mad-Eye could use some laughter in his life but knew that his words cannot be pushed aside. Things _were_ getting serious and she was only keeping up the light hearted mood for everyone else's sake.

"When is the first meeting, Mad-Eye?" Remus asked, taking that morning's copy of the Daily Prophet from Sirius quickly saying, "Thanks Padfoot."

"We've got everything sorted out," said Moody in his usual grunt. "The first meeting's on the fifth, that's tomorrow in the evening. I'll show up first and wait to walk all the others in. I'm guessing we'll be meeting in the kitchen then?"

"It's the only place suitable," said Silvia. "We'll send Kreacher elsewhere in the house."

"Good because I hate that bloody elf," Sirius grumbled, eating his cereal.

"And I can send the kids upstairs," Molly told them.

"Mum, we want to listen," Ron groaned through a mouthful of toast.

"Yeah, we're of age, we can apparate too!" said Fred, or George, Tonks couldn't tell.

"No," Molly hissed at her children. "You're still too young."

Tuning out of the conversation, Tonks turned back to Remus who had quietly opened the paper and began reading it. She could see all the headlines, most of which relating to the werewolf problems at hand. On the third page, she saw a picture of her and Silvia chasing down Bartol Fell from last night and threw a glance at Sirius. He must have not seen the picture as he and Silvia were talking about something entirely different with smiles upon their faces.

"You _and_ Silvia chased down Bartol Fell last night?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, try not to let Sirius see this," she whispered. "He thinks Silvia's got a desk job."

"I know," Remus sighed. "I just hope she doesn't hurt herself or the baby."

"She won't, we're making sure," Tonks assured him.

Reading along with him, Tonks could see that as Remus read more about the werewolf crimes or lies about Harry and Dumbledore, he grew more and more worried. He was good at putting up a mask in front of others, acting as if nothing was wrong and he was simply reading the paper, but Tonks knew better. That worried look was etched into his eyes and remained even when he stole glances at her.

"It's getting serious now isn't it?" he asked, pointing to an article about another murder.

Tonks sighed. She couldn't deny it. "Yeah, it's getting bad. We arrested Fell but he's definitely not the only werewolf causing chaos in London. What you said last night, about the packs working for You-Know-Who and their rivalries, it's going to get worse real soon."

"Most likely Dumbledore will speak about it in tomorrow's meeting. We'll find a way to handle it," he assured her, speaking quietly in their private conversation. "In the meantime however," Remus suddenly placed his gentle fingers upon the ends of her lips and pulled up tenderly, forming a smile upon her face. "Smile," he said.

She broke into a grin and shook her head. "Must you always?"

He shrugged. "It makes everything that's happening slightly more tolerable."

A blush crept onto her cheek, mirroring Remus's. "You worry too much."


	2. The Order of the Phoenix

**Author's Note:**

Ah, the second chapter is up! Thank you for all the reviews and support! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope you will continue to support me. Thank you so very much! Anyways, enjoy reading and feel free to give constructive criticism. Thanks again! xD

* * *

**Chapter 02 – The Order of the Phoenix**

Copper, there was an unbearable stench of copper floating about in the air. As she entered the ransacked and utterly destroyed house, all Tonks could smell and even taste was the coppery scent of blood. She drew a deep sigh, tucked a strand of wavy blonde hair behind her ear, and continued through the door with her pen and notepad in hand, heading towards the kitchen where she could see shadows of her colleagues moving about.

Entering the kitchen, the horrid stench of blood became too much to handle. She steeled herself and carefully maneuvered her way around the puddle of scarlet, trying not to be disgusted by the mutilated body of a woman lying in the middle of the chaos. It took all the coordination she could muster for her to make her way over to Proudfoot without tripping and falling. Tonks withdrew her wand from its sheath and with two light taps one on her small notepad and another on the identical one Proudfoot was holding, she'd copied the information she'd gathered to him.

"It had to be a woman," she said in an even voice. "I interviewed the neighbors and several of them said they saw an unfamiliar woman enter the house with Chadwell."

Proudfoot's eyes hesitantly flickered to the body of Alice Chadwell lying on the floor. Tonks couldn't help but follow and her emerald eyes found crimson. Blood was everywhere, splattered onto the walls even. Vicious slash wounds were present across the middle aged woman's body and a particularly nasty bite mark was still bubbling with thick moving blood from her neck, dampening her platinum blonde hair.

"An Unspeakable has been murdered. The Ministry is not going to be happy," said Dawlish, moving about behind them while trying to look for more clues.

Tonks thought his search was futile. She and Proudfoot had gathered all the evidence minutes ago. Dawlish was now merely looking at everyday items, a thoughtful look in his eyes as if a rubber spatula could give him answers. Tonks returned to Proudfoot who looked grim.

"Let's hurry up and close this place off," she sighed, knowing her cousin Alexis would definitely not be happy. "Did you find anything else while I was gone?"

"One thing," Proudfoot nodded and led her over to the sink where carelessly, Tonks had accidentally rubbed the right sleeve of her robes against a small splatter of blood on the kitchen counter. She ignored it and watched as Proudfoot pointed her attention to a glass filled halfway with water, sitting in a plastic container—they were going to take it back as evidence.

"What's so special about it?" she asked, trying not to get anymore blood on herself.

"That's not just water," said Proudfoot. "I had Dawlish confirm it with me. It's Veritaserum." Tonks's expression darkened as he continued. "We think that whoever killed Alice Chadwell didn't do it out of revenge or simple violence like the previous cases."

"They were looking for information," finished Tonks.

"What's even more worrying, Chadwell is an Unspeakable. If someone, a woman you say, killed her for information, they may be after something in the Department of Mysteries."

"Alexis definitely is not going to like this," Tonks sighed.

"Your cousin?" Proudfoot asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, the Head of the Department of Mysteries." Tonks felt a strange sensation of pride ripple through her as she spoke about her cousin. "We need to look into this more—speak to the Obliviators if we have to. I heard that the Unspeakables are trained to resist Veritaserum. Whatever information the murderer was after may not be exposed yet."

A soft _pop_ surprised them. Both Tonks and Proudfoot turned on the spot to see that another auror had arrived, Silvia Black, pregnant and flustered, letting out a long breath. She shook her head at the scene but didn't show any trace of disgust—she'd been working as an auror longer than Tonks had and had seen much worse. Even pregnant, she gracefully danced her way through the mess and came to stand beside Tonks.

"Silv, where's Marrick? I thought you were bringing him."

"It's just us. Cornelius wanted a meeting with him discussing all these attacks."

"Isn't it obvious?" Tonks grumbled. "Fudge is such an idiot—"

The wind was knocked out of her when Silvia suddenly elbowed her in the ribcage. Tonks couldn't protest and her eyes watered in pain. She could only keep quiet as Silvia's eyes shifted from Proudfoot to Dawlish warily. They seemed to have not noticed Tonks's comment about their rather daft and currently-in-denial Minister for Magic.

"Anyways," Silvia sighed. "Alexis is livid. She said Alice was the only one beside her who knows every protection spells placed in the Department of Mysteries. She asked us to speak to an Obliviator immediately and make sure Alice's memory hadn't been tampered with."

"We've got to head back to the Ministry to get an Obliviator over here," said Tonks. "Dawlish is quite good with memory charms. We could ask him to check."

Silvia made a face and leaned closer to the two aurors while Dawlish was staring pensively at a toaster oven. "Alexis doesn't trust Dawlish," she whispered.

"No surprise there," Proudfoot sighed. "He's taken too many curses to the head."

"What now?" Tonks questioned, sounding irritated. "We don't have _time_, Silvia." There was an urgent and purposeful look in her green eyes. "Not tonight and Lexi knows that…."

Another _pop_ placed a pause in their conversation. That time, all four aurors turned their attention to the kitchen window that looked out into the quiet and deceivingly peaceful backyard. Their wands were drawn and raised when the screen door in the corner squeaked and opened, casting a distorted shadow on the bloody tiles from the setting sun.

"It's me, don't stun!" Kingsley Shacklebolt said warily, his own wand visible.

"Kingsley, we weren't expecting you," said Tonks, looking puzzled.

There was something weird about Kingsley. Tonks tilted her head to the side, looking closely at the wry expression of anger upon his face. She couldn't tell if he was faking it or if he actually was angry—she'd never seen Kingsley angry before. In one quick stride, he'd taken her hand and pulled her out into the backyard, muttering something about needing a word with her. Dawlish, Proudfoot, and Silvia were utterly confused, watching speechlessly as a seemingly enraged Shacklebolt dragged Tonks out into the shadowed garden.

"Err, King, what's up?" Tonks asked apprehensively once he closed the screen door behind them. She wondered if she'd done something wrong.

Kingsley was suddenly whispering. "Don't get mad…or, actually, pretend to get mad, do whatever you do, but I'm going to yell at you, all right?"

Feeling torn between wanting to laugh and wanting to worry, Tonks chuckled in an awkward manner as she asked him, "Um, okay but what did I do? And you don't need to warn me before yelling at me, that's just mad."

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm not cut out for this," he grumbled then explained, "Moody told me he wants you off this case—"

"What? But that old bat's not even on the force anymore!"

"Shh!" he hushed her urgently and raised his hand halfway, about to cover her mouth. "He said it's something about the Order—he couldn't go into full details. Dumbledore needs you free for the next week or so and with this case in the way, it won't be good. You'll be left with desk work. I heard they have work for you and Remus."

Upon hearing that the Order already had work for her and Remus lined up, Tonks stopped her questioning and didn't even protest at having to do paperwork. "All right but Lexi's going to be really mad that I'm not investigating this case involving one of her colleagues," she sighed.

"Silvia's on it, Lexi trusts Silvia just as much as you. Can I get on with it now?"

Her temptation to laugh suddenly skyrocketed and Tonks stifled a giggle as she nodded.

Kingsley cleared his throat, looking apologetic. Tonks briefly wondered if the he had ever yelled at anybody before. Her thoughts were quickly drowned out by his raised voice, deep and booming with every word. "I TOLD YOU TO HAVE THAT WEREWOLF REPORT ON MY DESK A WEEK AGO! WHERE IS IT? DO YOU EVEN TAKE THIS JOB SERIOUSLY AUROR TONKS OR ARE YOU TOO CHILDISHLY CAUGHT UP IN YOUR LOVE LIFE TO ACT LIKE A PROPER ADULT?"

Tonks was covering her mouth with her hands. Through the kitchen window, it must have looked like Tonks was trying not to cry but in reality, she was trying not to laugh. Luckily, Kingsley had his back facing the door because the look on his face was incredibly humorous.

"Okay, you can mock me but stop teasing my relationship with Remus," she whispered.

He rolled his eyes, suppressed a smile, and drew another breath to scream his finishing statement. "I WANT YOU OFF THIS CASE UNTIL THAT PILE OF PAPERWORK IN YOUR IN-BOX IS PROPERLY LOOKED THROUGH. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

She nodded too many times.

In silence, Tonks returned to the kitchen crime scene while Kingsley disapparated. Because she had to suppress her laughter, Tonks's cheeks were flushing red and her eyes were watering with tears. Her appearance made it look like she'd been crying and Proudfoot gave her a sympathetic look while Silvia was stunned silent, her hazel eyes shining bemusedly. Dawlish on the other hand, had returned to placing spells around the crime scene for later access.

"You all right?" Silvia asked in a quiet voice, taking Tonks's arm.

"Here, go home," said Proudfoot kindly. "Dawlish will clean up and I'll speak to an Obliviator. Then I just send a message down to the Department of Mysteries, right?"

"Right, thank you Proudfoot," said Silvia, leading Tonks out the back door.

Once alone in the night, Tonks's face broke out into a full on grin. Silvia walked on, nonplussed. They traipsed far enough away from the house so that Tonks's shrill laughter could not be heard. It took her another five minutes to calm herself and she finally told Silvia why Kingsley had come. When Tonks finished, Silvia was shaking her head, hiding a smile. Reminded of the meeting they were supposed to go to that night, Tonks and Silvia disapparated together heading for Grimmauld Place, leaving in their wake a fairly loud _crack_.

* * *

Coming home, the two women were surprised to find a group of torn and tattered people sitting in the kitchen having tea. Everyone except Arthur and Bill looked like they'd fallen through some sort of cutting machine. One sleeve on Ginny's blouse was torn off, both twins were showing skin trying to repair their tattered shirts by magic, and Ron was groaning about a pair of pants being ruined. Remus and Sirius were seated beside Molly who was fussing. Sirius was joking about his sleeveless attire while Remus was looking ruefully at his shabby clothes—there were more holes on them than in the Shrieking Shack!

"What happened to everyone?" Silvia asked, making her way over to her husband's side and examining his bare arms that showed several light cuts already healed by Molly.

"We cleaned the library," Remus sighed. "Sirius forgot to warn us about biting books."

"I thought only books Hagrid assigned to us could bite," Ron grumbled.

Sirius was chuckling. "At least we've got the library to use now."

"I wanted to help myself," said Bill, looking like he truthfully wanted a part of the book-biting action. "But they were finished by the time dad and I got home from work."

"We've had a productive day," Molly smiled warmly, repairing Ginny's sleeve.

Amused, Tonks tried to make her way into the crowded kitchen but wisely gave up on the task as she hoped to avoid tripping over the troll-leg umbrella stand again. She settled for leaning on the kitchen doorway, away from the grotesque giant foot, exchanged a furtive glance with Remus, smiled bashfully, and continued to examine everyone else.

"What's this?" Sirius questioned, noticing the streak of blood on Silvia's robes. "You were in a fight!" His protective side surfaced and his face held a mixture of anger and worry.

"No she wasn't," Tonks sighed. They were honest that time. "I got some on me too."

Remus paled and stared at her while Sirius exclaimed, "You _both_ got hurt?"

Breaking her entrancing gaze with Remus, Tonks turned to see Silvia taking a seat on Sirius's lap and patting his shoulder comfortingly. "No we didn't," she said softly. "We had to look at a crime scene before leaving work. An Unspeakable was murdered." She turned to Remus who was even paler. "I'm afraid it's another werewolf attack, a woman this time."

"An Unspeakable, attacked?" Arthur asked. "Has Alexis heard?"

"I was told," a cold voice sounded from behind Tonks.

Stunned, Tonks jumped and turned clumsily around to face her raven-haired cousin who had walked through the front door without drawing attention from anyone. Alexis looked passive and at a brief glance, nothing seemed wrong, but Tonks knew differently. Her cousin was always good at hiding things, if she wanted to, and Alexis was hiding her worries.

"When'd you get home?" Tonks asked.

"Just now as Sirius fussed over the bloodstains on yours and Silv's robes," she replied in a solemn voice. "Alice Chadwell was murdered in her own house. Kingsley's looked over the evidence and suspects that Hawkins may be responsible." Her dark brown almost black eyes flickered to Remus momentarily when she noticed he'd clenched his teeth. Saying nothing, she continued, "Dawlish however, thinks differently. He believes Lucian Hart who'd been on the run from the Ministry for days was responsible—such a daft cow. Proudfoot messaged me saying luckily, Alice had wiped her memory before her death, following protocol for Unspeakables."

"What information were they after?" Sirius asked, growing worried.

"As of right now, I don't know," Alexis sighed. "Is the library cleaned? I'll be in there."

A breath of cold air caressed Tonks's face as Alexis turned abruptly and made her way into the library, slamming the door shut behind her. Tonks was already rummaging through her mind for a way to cheer her cousin up but before she could tread upon an idea, Fred, or maybe George Weasley had gotten up from his chair and quietly made his way past Tonks, into the library. She watched him for a moment, blinked, then turned back to the group of people.

Silvia was quietly helping Molly prepare dinner, Arthur was talking to Bill, and Ron and Ginny had gone into the living room with a pile of chocolate frog cards. Tonks turned to Remus who was tense and lost in his own thoughts. She sighed then looked to Sirius who had leaned across the table to ask the remaining twin, "Oi, are you Fred or George?"

"I'm George," he replied, acting offended.

"Hello Fred," said Remus, coming out of his reverie and stealing a quick look at Tonks.

"Right you are, Remus," Fred grinned.

Sirius's eyes narrowed. "Why aren't you with George then? You do everything together."

"Not _everything_. We don't use the loo together," he smirked.

Shaking his head and face-palming himself, Sirius sat back in his seat and turned his attention to his doting wife who was replacing her vase of withered daisies with fresh, glowing white ones. "Why is it always daisies?" he asked her tenderly.

Whatever Silvia's gentle reply was, it was drowned out by the sound of Remus' chair scratching against the floor as he got up. Tonks had raised a hand and signaled for him to come out into the hallway with her. They closed the door behind them just as they heard Sirius call for Kreacher the old house elf and a soft _crack_ sounded behind the door.

"What's wrong?" Tonks asked him in a quiet voice. "You look pale."

An artificial smile grazed his thin lips. "I recognized some of the names Lexi had mentioned," he confessed, never being able to lie to her. "It just…doesn't sound like them."

She shrugged, treading on carefully because she knew she was walking on thin ice whenever discussing werewolves around Remus. "Just ignore it. You have enough problems."

"But that Unspeakable, murdered—"

"It's Lexi's problem to worry about, not yours," Tonks spoke softly to him as they leaned against a black door with chipped paint in the narrow hallway. "And she's comforted by George so we have nothing to fear. Don't stress yourself over every little thing wrong with the world."

Remus sighed. "I guess so."

Tonks nodded. "Good. Now I wonder why it's always George who's comforting Lexi. I mean they're so close—you'd think she's as close to George as she is with Marrick."

"Lexi has said it herself that George is her best friend," Remus informed. "It's only natural he comforts her. He and Fred are actually quite protective of the people they care about."

"Hmm, all right," said Tonks, unbelieving. She was looking at the closed library door while stroking her chin. Her eyes then returned to Remus. He had more color in his face now and was looking at her with a curious glint in his sapphire blue eyes. She smiled and said, "What?"

"Why are we in the hall?" he asked innocently. "We could have talked in the kitchen."

"Oh Moony, you can be so daft sometimes," she groaned. He raised an eyebrow and Tonks swayed, embarrassed, in his arms as she said, "Maybe I wanted some private time. I mean, you looked so tense and frustrated I thought I'd make you feel a little better."

Her breath hitched when Remus's face lit up with a smile. Even under the darkness of the hallway, his grin shined. Flustered, she clumsily led him towards the living room where they pulled back quickly upon seeing Ron and Ginny in a heated debate about chocolate frog cards.

"Let's not go there," said Remus, "If you want private time that is."

She giggled and they turned back to the paint chipped door. "What's this room?"

"_That_, my love, is the cleaning closet," he told her once she opened it.

Much to his surprise, Tonks shrugged then pushed him into the closet. She followed him, shutting the door behind them while pushing her svelte body against him to fit in the confined space. He blindly searched for his wand and lit up the small closet with a charm so that he could see her pale, heart-shaped face clearly. Tonks smirked, took his wand out of his hand, and tucked it into the back of his collar where the light glowed upon his head.

"I look ridiculous," he smiled, his smile growing more and more genuine.

"You're going to need _both_ hands, dear Moony," she giggled. "Now wait, are you _sure_ you're all right? I know werewolves are a touchy topic for you and we've had to discuss it a lot."

Remus nodded. "I assure you, I am fine." Tonks was unbelieving by that shadowed look in his eyes but she didn't have any chance to further her questioning. Gently, Remus had captured her lips with his, held her closer than they already were and tightened his warm arms securely around her waist. Finally, their moment of privacy came as his whispers tickled her ear, speaking private words that belonged to her and only her. Tonks's breath grew shallow as she lost herself in his kiss, in him.

He was so easy to love. He smelled so devastatingly alluring—of homely books and chocolate—the heady scent bringing back an onrush of memories so pleasurable and indulging that Tonks was having a hard time controlling her wandering hands. She was seized by an incessant desire to touch him and trace slender fingers gently over each of his every scar that covered his lanky torso. His own hands strayed below the shirt hem and she could feel her body longing for him. Perhaps the cleaning closet was a mistake.

"Next time we need a moment of privacy, we should find a place with more space," she laughed against his warm, swollen lips, wringing her fingers in his disheveled light brown hair.

His chest vibrated with his gentle laugh. "Why'd you pick the cleaning closet anyways?"

Tonks's hands were under his shirt and it took her a moment to answer as her thoughts were distracted by intoxicating nights upon his old mattress on the floor by the window. "Oh yes, the cleaning closet," she smiled. "It was more convenient."

His blue eyes turned away momentarily to look at the thick and glimmering cobweb in the corner. "I have to admit, I have never done anything in a cleaning closet before…."

Cold air suddenly drowned them and they realized that the closet door had been opened. Tonks and Remus froze, standing within each other's arms as they looked out, wide-eyed at the spectator in the narrow hallway. Tonks's green eyes had found the tiny elf standing right below them, the culprit who had opened the bloody door she'd forgotten to lock.

"_Kreacher_!" she hissed, not wanting to wake up Sirius's mother. "What are you doing?"

The elf rubbed his hands together and gave them a wry smile. "Kreacher is…_cleaning_."

"Who asked you to, Kreacher?" Remus asked rather curtly.

"Master Sirius told Kreacher to clean the cleaning closet."

"_Clean_ the cleaning closet?" Tonks growled at the ridiculousness.

Sirius's barking laughter roared. Absolutely mortified, Tonks and Remus shuffled out of the small closet as Kreacher walked in. They were trying to straighten themselves out and Remus put away his wand as the doors to the kitchen, living room, and library drew open, revealing a crowd of spectators trying hard to hide their laughter. Sirius was the only one laughing freely. He walked up and patted Remus on the shoulder, shaking his head and still continued to laugh.

"And _that_, my young troublemakers," he said to Fred and George standing beside Alexis who now looked positively glowing. "…is how you cheer someone up in a desperate situation."

"Brilliant!" Fred and George grinned.

"You are so mean," Silvia sighed, returning to the kitchen with Molly, Arthur, and Bill.

"Hey, least I cheered Lexi up!" he defended himself as Alexis swept past him muttering a quiet but grateful, "Thank you Padfoot."

Fuming, Tonks was about to march in after Sirius and hex him into the middle of next week. She was distracted however, by the sound of a curt knock upon their door. Huffing and forcing herself to calm down under Remus's warm hand on her shoulder, Tonks turned to face the front door on the other end of the hallway.

"I'll get it," Ginny offered while Ron squeezed himself into the kitchen.

When Ginny opened the front door, Mad-Eye Moody's dominating figure blocked the entire doorway. He grunted something, a thank-you to Ginny perhaps, and clonked into the house, pushing his way past Remus and Tonks purposefully into the kitchen. Behind him, Severus Snape followed and Tonks almost didn't see the dreary Potions Master as he was dressed entirely in black and blended in perfectly with the dark and dismal house.

Snape, tall, dreary and greasy-haired, approached them. His back faced Tonks as he shoved a cauldron into Remus's hands. "Your potion, Lupin," he sneered and Tonks could imagine a condescending smirk on his lips. She longed to give him a right-hard kick in the arse but she couldn't without kicking him into Remus and so settled with simply scowling at him.

"Thank you," Remus murmured but Snape had already left, entering the kitchen and taking a seat in a shadowy area. Remus's eyes found Tonks's.

"What's that?" she asked.

He seemed surprised. "Wolfsbane Potion," he answered. "But I didn't expect—"

"It's only right Dumbledore asks him to brew it for you mate," said Sirius approaching them. "But I wouldn't trust him—Snivellus is known to hold a grudge. We can check it for poison later _before_ you drink it. Now come on, the meeting is starting soon."

"I guess I'm lucky this month," Remus sighed, still in disbelief.

Like Sirius, Tonks was doubtful and said, "I'd double check it if I were you, love."

* * *

The Order of the Phoenix was such a motley crowd that no one would ever expect them to be acquainted with each other and especially not be old friends. Tonks sat in the middle of the table with Remus, her knee rubbing his discreetly under the table as they watched people file into their long, narrow, and quickly crowded kitchen one by one. There were several faces she recognized; several who inclined their heads to her, a few who smiled, and the rest were complete strangers. Remus however, seemed to know every single one and received warm greetings. While Tonks was silently teasing Marrick for having to sit next to Severus Snape, the dreariest man alive because Alexis had cleverly sat one seat away from him, she noticed that an unfamiliar woman had taken the seat across from Remus and was greeting him with a warm handshake, a more than friendly smile, and a battering of eyelashes.

"Who's that?" Tonks asked him, trying to suppress the rising feeling in the pit of her stomach that felt like…jealousy, perhaps? _Funny, I don't regard myself as the jealous type._

"Hestia," Remus replied with a pleasant smile. "Hestia Jones. She and I went on missions together often in the first war."

She couldn't explain why she did it but Tonks suddenly turned to face him with one eyebrow raised and an inquisitive look in her gaze. Remus turned to her after exchanging pleasantries with Hestia. He caught sight of her look and let out a soft chuckle. Under the table, Remus had found her hand and was weaving his fingers gently, one by one, in between hers. Tonks couldn't deny how perfectly his fingers fit into the spaces between hers.

"Friends," he assured her. "Is that jealousy I see?" he teased.

Tonks feigned a dramatic gasp and pushed his hand away. "Don't be so full of yourself."

Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Tonks stole a look at Remus who was chuckling, shaking his head, and listening to something Sirius was telling him—a joke no doubt. She returned her attention to the arriving members and found that McGonagall had arrived, taking a seat beside the tallest chair at the head of the table. Hagrid shuffled in with great difficulty and Tonks noticed how crowded and tight the whole kitchen became. Molly had finished banishing all the kids from the kitchen and Silvia had returned from asking Kreacher to clean the upstairs until they were done; both women took their seat beside their respective husband. Finally, Tonks saw Albus Dumbledore stride in, his piercing blue eyes twinkling behind half-moon spectacles. He took the tallest seat and the door to the kitchen closed by magic.

Although Dumbledore's voice was calm and pleasant, Tonks could sense the air of seriousness and fear underlying the casual façade. He'd begun with the expected introductions, announcing the names, occupation, and brief description of the skills of each of the members present. As Dumbledore began talking about the purpose of the Order, Tonks had succumbed to her inability to pay attention and began staring blankly at the wall opposite of her. That was how it had always been during school. No matter how much she loved a subject, she would be unable to pay attention. Years later, no matter how serious she took the work of the Order, her attention span was far too short to listen to the information being given.

Emerald eyes glanced at Alexis sitting beside her, whispering something quietly to Marrick. Tonks's eyes traveled down the table to where Sirius and Silvia sat across from Arthur, Molly, and Bill, listening aptly. Inevitably, her eyes found Remus. He was listening too and she seized the chance when his blue eyes wouldn't secretly tease her, to memorize his every feature for possibly the thousandth time. The faint scars that crossed his face weren't as noticeable under the kitchen light. His light brown hair showed less and less grey as if he was aging backwards. And Remus's scholarly bookworm appearance never fails to fascinate her. She drew a breath, wondering how such a man, so easy to love and give love, could be so terrified of himself.

"Tonks," Alexis hissed and she broke her entrancement of Remus to turn to her cousin with a pointed look. She saw that her cousin was smirking, obviously feeling a lot better. "You're drooling," Alexis whispered. "Stop gawking at your boyfriend and pay attention."

"Twat."

Her cousin had jabbed her elbow into her ribcage, knocking the wind out of Tonks for the second time that night. She turned back to glare at the woman with cold eyes but that icy gaze shifted into curiosity instantly when Alexis pointed her attention to a thin, flesh colored string behind Dedalus Diggle's and Elphias Doge's chair.

"What's that?" Tonks whispered.

"Extendable Ears—the kids are listening in. They're one of Fred and George's creations."

Tonks shifted in her chair. "What? I thought Molly had sent them upstairs—"

"Nymphadora," Snape's low, monotone voice drawled.

Uncontrollably, Tonks looked up and shot him one of her darkest glares. She met his black eyes fearlessly with defiant green ones and hissed, "Don't call me Nymphadora, _Severus_." She was no longer a student of his and will not sit quietly being treated as one.

The corners of his mouth curled upwards in a familiar sneer. "I hate to interrupt your conversation, _Nymphadora_, but your insolence will no longer be tolerated like it was in school."

On the edge of her seat, Tonks growled at him but Remus placed a firm hand on her lap. Moody grunted, Hestia Jones cleared her throat, and Tonks glanced at Remus to see him shaking his head ever so slightly. Reluctantly, she huffed and sat back in her chair, glowering at Snape's sallow skinned face and his large, hooked nose.

"Severus, go on," said Dumbledore with a pleasant air of amusement in his voice.

"As I was saying," Snape, an overgrown bat in Tonks's eyes, drawled. "The recent increase in werewolf crimes and attacks is nothing by chance. The Dark Lord is seizing the opportunity of the Ministry denying his return to act in the shadows. The werewolves are merely serving him as useless, expendable soldiers—"

"Nothing _we_ haven't already figured out," Sirius grumbled a little down the table.

Ignoring him, Snape continued, "Aside from instilling fear, it is believed that the Dark Lord may be after something, something he desperately needs and is first testing the water by using the werewolves." Tonks noticed his penetrating black eyes glare at Remus and she growled under her breath, wishing her eyes could be a lethal weapon like her mother's and cousins'.

"What is it he wants, Severus?" Arthur asked beside Molly who was wringing her hands.

"The Dark Lord has not yet disclosed this information with any of the Death Eaters. At the moment, no one knows what it is he is after," Snape replied tersely.

"Do you think it's some sort of weapon?" Sirius questioned the crowd entirely.

"That's all we can guess right now," Moody grunted, sitting beside Hagrid.

Dumbledore stood up, his eyes no longer twinkling but his overall expression remained pleasant. "Thank you Severus, for that enlightening bit of information."

"Enlightening my arse," Sirius grumbled quietly to Remus and was hushed by Silvia.

Tonks knew Dumbledore was merely pretending he could not hear Sirius's interjection as his thin lips curled into an amused smile behind his silver beard. He continued, "For those of us who do not know, Severus will be continuing to serve as our spy in Voldemort's close-knit circle of Death Eaters." There were hushed whispers all around the table and a woman, Emmeline Vance murmured, "_Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater_." Dumbledore continued on ceaselessly. "Therefore, it will be difficult for Severus to attend all the meetings. Sirius, you will be serving as the messenger between Severus and us. When noted, you will, by stealth of course," he winked. "Go to Severus's house and retrieve the information."

It was not a question, it was a command and Sirius had no choice but to follow Dumbledore's request for the sake of the Order. He nodded solemnly, whispered "_Snivellus_," under his breath, and glared at the table.

"For the gathering of further intelligence and aid, I have spoken with Hagrid about parleying with the giants. He will be leaving with Madam Olympe Maxime who will be accompanying him for this journey in a few days. Now," Dumbledore's voice rose slightly and Tonks found herself paying close attention to his every word as if her attention on him was beyond her control. "Gathering intelligence is very necessary but seeing that what Voldemort is truly after is Harry Potter, at the current moment our top priority is to protect him. While I have asked Kingsley and Marrick to direct the aurors in gathering more information about these werewolf attacks, I ask that we each take turns to guard Harry. The best way seems to be to trail him, watch him closely, everyday with the help of Alastor's Invisibility Cloak. The first watch will go to Remus and Tonks and they will be camping at Mrs. Arabella Figg's house. I reckon Remus knows where to go," Dumbledore smiled and Remus inclined his head. "The first shift will last until the morning of the twelfth when Alexis and Marrick will take over."

Following Dumbledore's instructions, the rest of the Order began discussing theories as to what Voldemort could be planning, making predictions based on patterns of the last war, and talking of how they would go about their missions and assignments safely. Sirius was complaining to his comforting wife about having to play the role of a messenger all because of his animagus ability while Remus and Tonks spoke with Mad-Eye on what to do while trailing Harry. Finally, when the clock struck ten at night, the meeting ended and like how they entered, members began dispelling one by one.

Remus helped Tonks out of her chair and they left the kitchen safely together so that she did not trip. Passing Hestia Jones, Tonks immediately recognized the look of shock in the woman's eyes when she saw Tonks and Remus holding hands. In response to the woman she'd just met, Tonks smiled and couldn't help looking a little smug.

"Alexis, may I have a word…alone please?" Dumbledore asked. Tonks saw Alexis nod and lead him into the library.

Not thinking much about what Dumbledore could want with her cousin, Tonks followed Remus upstairs to their room where they began packing their bags for one week away. She wasn't complaining. She was doing something rather useful for the Order—protecting Harry Potter sounded pretty useful—and she got to get away from dreary, old, Grimmauld Place for a week. Tonks definitely wasn't complaining.

"Do you have room in your bag?" Remus asked quietly.

"Yeah, why?" she replied, speaking just as soft.

"Can you put my potion in with your stuff? I have to carry the Invisibility Cloak in mine." Remus sounded rather timid asking her.

With a gentle, ardent gaze, she nodded and said, "Of course." Then she took the cauldron Snape had given him out of his hands and carefully placed it inside her rucksack, whispering a charm upon it so that it wouldn't spill.

They finished quickly and soon, Remus and Tonks were getting ready to leave. When Tonks passed the kids' room in the hallway, she noticed that they were all huddled together in Fred and George's room, whispering endlessly about something. She placed a hand on Remus's chest, wordlessly asking him to wait as she knocked on the partially opened door and walked in.

"Hello Tonks," Ginny beamed and the other boys followed her greeting.

Tonks crossed her arms and leaned on the door jamb. "You kids are so obvious."

"What are you talking about Tonks?" Ron asked, his ears turning red.

"Extendable ears? Really?"

"How'd you know?" One of the twins questioned.

"Alexis told me. You're lucky no one else noticed or else your mother would be screaming at you right now," she smiled.

The other twin sighed and smiled. "Well if only Lexi noticed, we should be good."

"The Order meetings are awfully long," said Ginny. "And Snape's in the Order?"

"I was surprised when I found out too," Tonks admitted. "But I can't tell you more about it so don't ask me. I've got to leave for a mission—see you in a few days."

Waving to the Weasley children, Tonks headed downstairs with Remus where they found Dumbledore and Alexis exiting the library. Dumbledore smiled and left Grimmauld Place while Alexis silently returned to her room, looking just as grim as when she'd gone home. Curious, Tonks and Remus stopped inside the kitchen where Molly, Arthur, Bill, Sirius, and Silvia were occupying several chairs.

"What's wrong with Lexi again?" Tonks questioned—her cousin's mood had been so hard to predict lately, it changed faster than the unpredictable weather.

"Dumbledore asked to speak with her privately about something. We heard Lexi raising her voice sounding frustrated about something through the door but nothing else," Silvia answered them as she fixed up a fantastic jade green Bells of Ireland flower arrangement. Tonks smiled and knew that Silvia always found pleasure in doing that kind of thing.

"Reckon George will have something up his sleeve to cheer Lexi up again?" Sirius asked.

"Oh I think Marrick's on that already," Molly smiled, bustling over to Remus and Tonks. "Are you sure you don't want to eat anything before you go?"

"No thanks, Molly," Tonks smiled, loving the doting woman even more.

"Thank you Molly," Remus replied amiably.

They lingered for a moment as Remus explained to Arthur who Mrs. Figg was. Waiting, Tonks noticed Sirius had drained his tea and rested both elbows on the table, leaning closer to Silvia and her sculptural flowers. "Bells of Ireland—what's the meaning in these?" he asked.

"Luck," Silvia smiled. "We're going to need all the luck we can get in the future."

"Why do you love arranging them by hand?" His questioning continued.

"I take pleasure in doing little things by hand. It gives me time to think."

"Kind of like how I enjoy cooking, Sirius," Molly smiled.

"Is it something women like to do?" Sirius asked while his hands were on Silvia's belly, concealing a smile. Watching him, Tonks was glad her cousin was less obnoxious now. He was simply talking with his wife, softly, and anticipating the birth of his baby boy.

"Not really." Tonks joined in on the conversation as Remus's chat with Arthur continued. "Remus likes preparing his tea by hand. He even sits and waits for the water to boil."

"Ah," Sirius nodded, looking up briefly from his wife's pregnant belly. "It's the sentimental people then."

"What about you? I see you sneaking off to that field a short walk away from here."

"The place he likes to call Cirque Hideout," Remus smiled, knowing Sirius's story.

Tonks shook her head as Sirius began feebly denying that he ever took long walks at night while his mind refuses to sleep and instead lingers in cold nostalgia. Remus, his conversation with Arthur finished, patted his best friend on the shoulder, smirking as he too often saw Sirius go there. He then returned to Tonks's side and taking her hand, Remus and Tonks left for the front door.

* * *

_CRACK!_

They came in the dark of night. Tonks had lost her footing and fell painfully to her knees once they had apparated onto the quiet and jejune street that was Wisteria Walk, Little Whinging. Remus grabbed a hold of her, his one arm firmly around her shoulders as he helped her up and gracefully threw the Invisibility Cloak over their heads with his other. Their wary eyes looked around to make sure they were alone and once certain, they began shuffling down the empty street, struggling to stay concealed under the cloak that could barely cover them.

"Careful, we don't want anyone seeing us," Remus whispered and shifted so that he walked beside her. His one arm held the cloak and the other held her waist close to him, his leg brushing against hers as they walked.

"My knees hurt," Tonks complained as they continued down the sidewalk.

Dropping down to his knees and pulling Tonks with him, Remus shifted so that he could pull her patched jeans up to reveal her pale legs. Carefully, he handled her knees, both of which were bleeding with her earlier fall. Remus drew his wand from his back pocket and gently placed the tip upon her injury. Under his breath, he muttered a quiet healing charm and repeated the process with her other knee. She looked at him and her heart swelled with happiness at the way he handled her so gently and so tenderly. A smile grazed her lips. The cuts on her knees were gone and the only traces of injury were the small stains of blood on her jeans. Remus helped her up again and together, they continued to shuffle down the sidewalk.

"Thanks." She looked down and attempted to conceal a blush behind her blonde hair.

Remus's cool fingers stroked her burning cheek as he tucked her hair behind her ear so that he could see her face more clearly. "Are you ever going to stop blushing around me?" he asked kindly as his cheeks began to heat up themselves.

"I think we've both confirmed it's an impossible feat by now," she smiled.

"Fair enough."

"Which house does Mrs. Figg live in anyways?" Tonks asked as her eyes shifted from one insipid house to the next—they all look the same!

"This one, right here," Remus smiled and pointed to a house with the lights in the living room turned on, illuminating through the window like a set of golden eyes.

They approached the house, took off their Invisibility Cloak once they reached the door, and rang the doorbell which echoed loudly through the premise and could be faintly heard from outside. Mrs. Figg answered the door having been expecting them. She was a batty old woman with grizzled grey fly away hair wearing a hairnet and tartan carpet slippers. Entering the house, Tonks was taken aback at how strongly it smelled of old cabbage. She quickly steeled herself and put up a kind and grateful smile, just like Remus was doing.

Immediately following their introductions, Mrs. Figg began telling them about how she knew Dumbledore since the first war and how she'd watched Harry grow up ever since he was dropped off at Privet Drive. Tonks thought she was amusing and too obsessed with cats—Tonks had tripped over and nearly killed one of Mrs. Figg's cats upon her arrival—but the woman was kind nonetheless.

"Dumbledore asked me to prepare a room for members of the Order who will be watching Harry," she smiled and led them to a room upstairs. "You'll be staying here. The bathroom is right across the hall. I have to say, you two are a lot more normal that I expected. Why I remember meeting Alastor Moody who had a wooden leg and a magical eye!"

"Oh believe me Mrs. Figg," Tonks laughed. "Moody is considered pretty weird even to us." She thanked the woman and entered the room they would be staying in with Remus. Mrs. Figg left them and returned downstairs to her living room.

Pushing open the dark wood door, an even stronger stench of old cabbage took Tonks by surprise and she felt her eyes water. Remus walked in behind her and they gawked at the room. It was spacious, fully furnished with a large bed, wardrobe, work desk, and bookshelf. It seemed wrong to complain, however, Tonks was utterly horrified by the flowery curtains, the pink frilly beddings, the salmon colored wallpaper, and the doilies, the many, many doilies sitting under every vase, every picture frame of flowery sceneries, and beneath every decorative items.

"We're staying here for a week?" Tonks asked blankly. The pink and doilies were the complete opposite of Grimmauld Place's black and cobwebs, but it was equally terrifying. She swallowed hard and exhaled a clumsy laugh when Remus confessed to her in a feeble voice:

"I don't like doilies."


	3. Among Silent Hummingbirds

**Author's Note:**

I apologize for the long wait! I'm so sorry, but school has been giving me hell lately -_- I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thank you so much for the favorites, alerts, and reviews! I don't know when I'll get the next chapter up but hopefully it'll be soon and school won't get in the way. Thank you so much for your support! xD

* * *

**Chapter 03 – Among Silent Hummingbirds**

"Ouch, Remus, you're on my _foot_!" she hissed.

"Nymphadora, your leg is showing!"

"No one's looking," Tonks sighed. "And my god that name is such a mouthful."

His blue eyes met her green ones and they exchanged smiles. They've been at it for three days now and still they could not get the hang of the cloak that could barely fit two and was too warm for the hot summer weather. With her body against his while they hid under Moody's Invisibility Cloak, she felt her temperature rise. However that time, it had nothing to do with the fluster and sweet adoration she had for the man accompanying her.

"I don't like stalking people," she joked. "It's way too difficult."

Shifting again under the ruffling cloak behind swaying blades of tall golden grass, Remus moved so that he and Tonks could be in a more comfortable position and still get a good view of Harry Potter, lanky and bespectacled with unruly black hair.

"He looks so much like James," Remus sighed. "Although with Lily's eyes." A wistful smile appeared on his face. Tonks knew that look; Remus was traipsing in lovely memory lane again. Leaving him to his thoughts, she did nothing to disturb him. Her dark, twinkling emerald eyes returned to the lonely boy, sitting idly on a rusty old swing.

A soft breath of wind swept by, leaving as unexpectedly as it had come. The dried golden grass rippled and so did the Invisibility Cloak. She continued to gaze at the scene. Harry stood up abruptly, leaving the swing still and abandoned behind him as he began to take a walk around the small and torrid park.

Under the blazing hot sun and the desiccant air that stung the breath and sapped moisture from every word spoken, Harry wandered over to the field of grass where they stood. Tonks gasped, wondering if he'd discovered them. She tugged on Remus's arm but he'd already noticed. They were still as ice, worried. But Harry's shockingly green eyes looked beyond them.

The field, the park, and the surrounding muggle suburbs were completely parched. A drought had hit the area and left the summer plants withering. Patches of tall golden grass were already dead, swaying lifelessly in the frequent, teasing wind. Belladonna flowers thirsted for water as they bowed and died slowly in the heat. Hummingbirds that flew from petal to petal were craving nectar from forsaken plants. The metal merry-go-round in the middle of the field spun lazily, squeaking as it went while the rusting metal burned under the merciless sun. A drowsy atmosphere suspended over the area.

She'd succumbed to inevitable lethargy and began to slouch—she was falling asleep. No matter how much she tried to master her lulling attention span, she simply could not stay awake.

"Dora," She bolted upright, causing Remus to jump with her. "You were falling asleep."

She yawned and nodded. "It's the atmosphere, it's making me drowsy."

"You can return to Mrs. Figg's house if you'd like. I'll keep watch over Harry."

Somehow, the offer to return to a nice and cool house under shades of backyard trees was extremely uninviting. Tonks thought of how the house, lovely as it was, smelled intensely of old cabbage and how the room she and Remus were staying in looked more befitting of a three-year-old girl who lived a century ago. She looked up at him and shook her head vigorously.

He chuckled. When the smile slipped from his face as he returned to the task of watching over his best friend's son, Tonks finally noticed just how much the upcoming full moon was straining him. Dark circles cradled his blue eyes and his features grew sharp as his face turned sunken and sallow. Remus's light brown hair was disheveled and limp. His clothes were too big for his bony frame and she could feel the bones of his body jutting out as she stood close to him.

"I think _you_ should go back to the house and rest," she whispered.

"I've already taken my potion this morning. I am stronger than I look, dear," he smiled.

Half convinced, Tonks nodded and forced her eyes to return to Harry. If she continued trying to argue with Remus, they would definitely expose themselves. In the intense heat and pressure of a possible war close on the horizon, she and Remus had both grown a little more short-tempered as of late.

"What's that he's got?" she asked as Harry drew a piece of parchment from his pocket. He was studying it, eyes moving back and forth from line to line, rereading it again and again.

"I'll bet anything that's one of Sirius's letters," Remus replied, his warm breath caressing her ear. "Sirius had been stressed out by it. He wants to tell Harry everything but Dumbledore told him not to and Silvia is siding with Dumbledore on this one."

"He's taking something out again." Harry's hand was digging into his pocket, she saw.

"The Two-Way Mirror," said Remus as Harry pulled out a small square mirror no bigger than his palm. He spoke to it, calling Sirius's name. Remus waited for a moment with bated breath until he saw disappointment appear on Harry's face. "It appears Sirius is trying to avoid speaking to him if he can. It's probably killing him not being able to tell Harry anything.

"Where _is_ Sirius's mirror anyways?"

"Last I saw, he told Silvia to hide it so he won't be tempted to do anything."

Frustrated and alone, Harry began mindlessly grabbing at the dying flowers, pulling them up and crushing them with his hands. Tonks frowned, watching him through the tall grass. She could feel Remus let out a long, silent sigh by the gentle breath that grazed the side of her face.

"He looks so lonely," she said softly.

"Hush," said Remus suddenly.

She turned to him and he pointed a finger up at the sky. Apprehensively, she drew out her wand and looked up. There, in the sky, she could see rippling in the clouds. They weren't normal ripples, no; the sky didn't ripple like that even under the severe heat. Someone was in their half-apparition form, disillusioned, and flying overhead. Tonks took a closer look and turned back to him. They exchanged furtive, meaningful glances and began carefully moving away from Harry.

Remus and Tonks were walking backwards, carefully less they fell. Once they were far enough away from Harry for him to not notice the sudden appearance of two people, they began to move faster. Both took turns tracking the ripples moving about in the turquoise blue sky, turning in all directions as if unsure where to go. There were two of them.

"I'll get out, and go after them. You stay hidden under the cloak," she said.

"Are you mad? I'm not letting you go alone. You take the cloak," he replied.

She felt like thumping him on the head at the moment. "Remus, the moon is coming! You're tired! I know you're very good at dueling but let me take care of this!"

"There are two of them, you're outnumbered!"

"I'm an auror!" Tonks continued their argument in a hushed whisper.

"I fought in a war!"

They glared at each other. Realizing that they were wasting time, Tonks let out a loud huff and slipped out from under the cloak. She collapsed into a glowing white cloud of smoke, nearly invisible under the sunlight, and launched towards the sky. Remus watched her briefly, looking up as she began pursuing the two ripples that now became opaque.

"Nymphadora," Remus groaned.

Hastily he tied the cloak tightly around himself. Then, like her although invisible still, Remus collapsed into a cloud of white smoke, in half-apparition, and made his way towards the sky. With his wand drawn, Remus followed Tonks and the two fully visible clouds.

"_Stupefy!_" Tonks yelled and from her wispy glowing white form blended halfway between herself and a white cloud, Tonks projected a scarlet jet of light.

Missing her mark just barely, her attack had caused the two figures to turn around and fight back. Remus saw them, blended halfway between their physical form and their half-apparition state. They were people, their faces hidden behind scarves that served as masks. From what he could see of the area around their eyes, he could immediately tell that they were werewolves, like him. Those jagged scars were tell-tale signs.

"_Reducto!_" One of them yelled, a male's voice, strangely familiar to Remus.

"Don't kill her!" the other one yelled. "We need to get away!"

Tonks had grabbed a hold of one of them, firmly clinging on, preventing them from apparating. Remus, who was still hidden under the cloak, fired several silent stunners towards them. Their midair battle seemed dangerous and if one of them was hit, they'd plummet immediately. Struggling to catch up, Remus finally managed to grab Tonks's arm.

"Dora, let them go!"

"Are you mad?" she screamed at him through the wind and wrestled with the other man.

In the middle of the sky, the man finally broke free of Tonks's vice-like grip when he'd elbowed her in the side of the face during his wild thrashing. She let go of them, fell back and was caught by Remus. Just as the man she'd held onto recovered himself, he suddenly let out a scream when something, another object in the sky, took him by surprise.

"A helicopter!" said Tonks, unaware of its approach as they fought.

"Look out!" Remus yelled and without thinking, he'd pulled the flailing man out of the way of the propellers. The man grunted as he crashed against the side of the flying machine and his collision caused the helicopter to swerve dangerously. Deprived of its balance, the helicopter spun and to protect themselves from the lethal spinning propellers, Remus aimed his wand at it.

"_Diffindo!_"

He'd successfully severed the propellers off.

The helicopter and the helpless people inside plummeted towards the dry earth. Tonks, again grabbing hold of one man, pointed her wand at it and yelled, "_Aresto Momentum!_"

The helicopter slowed and fell, causing no more than a light shaking to its occupants. Returning to their fight, Remus and Tonks apparated along with the two people they've gotten a hold on to another field not far from there. The two men struggled but Tonks's grip was unyielding and as well was Remus. When their foot finally touched solid ground, Remus removed the cloak and set up a charm that prevented apparition. He let out a breath, exchanged brief glances with Tonks, and turned his attention back to the two men whose masks had fallen.

His eyes widened as his trembling lips said, "Lucian?" he stared blankly at the taller, muscular man with hazel eyes and shaggy brown hair. The scars that crossed his face greatly resembled Remus's only there were more layers to them and they were jagged, cruel. He turned his eyes to the other man, shorter, skinnier with a ferret-like face and graying hair. "Ralph?"

"Remus," the two men greeted apprehensively.

Tonks was gaping at the three, werewolves in front of her. "You know each other?"

"Why'd you chase us?" Lucian questioned. Tonks looked at him and recognized him as Lucian Hart, wanted by the Ministry for investigation on several murders and disappearances.

"Who's she?" the other man, Ralph, asked.

"She's a friend," Remus answered and just as Ralph emitted a low, threatening growl from his throat, Remus stepped forward. "She knows I'm a werewolf." He glanced at Tonks. "She knows we're all werewolves…she'd seen me transform."

"Unbelievable," Lucian shook his head, appalled.

"We chased you because we thought you were going to hurt someone," growled Tonks.

"Now, you were running away…from who?" Remus asked placidly.

Lucian let out a sigh, gave Tonks an apprehensive look before approaching Remus. He spoke in a low voice nearing a whisper but Tonks could still hear. "The pack has moved here. The Alpha is off doing something else but…the new beta…is Selene."

"Selene?" asked Tonks. "You mean Selene Hawkins?" The name of the wanted woman appeared in her mind instantly. "What's she got to do with this?"

Remus paled. The two men backed away and with a lazy flick of his wand, Remus removed the charm that prevented them from disapparating. He watched as they vanished right in front of him, collapsing into restless smoke that quickly turned to rippling mirages and shot up towards the sky. Tonks protested and tried to run after them but the firm grip Remus had on her arm kept her grounded.

"What was _that_?" she yelled, pointing wildly at the sky.

"They were friends of mine," he said in a quiet voice. "From when I was in the pack…."

"That was Lucian Hart! He's wanted by the Ministry!"

"Nymphadora, trust me on this, all right?" he sighed and massaged his temples. "I need time to think. Please, let me explain this…at a later time."

But Tonks didn't hear him. She was frustrated, pacing a trench in the dead grass. They'd crashed a muggle helicopter and they'd just let someone wanted by the Ministry to get away. Tonks was pulling at her hair, flaming red from her anger and glowing brilliantly under the hot sun as she paced and grumbled. Remus simply kept quiet, baffled by his strange encounter. He'd seen their names in the paper. What were they doing in London, so far away from where their pack had settled? And what was going on with Selene?

* * *

On the morning of the full moon, Remus looked dreadfully ill. Dark circles made his eyes look sunken and his lack of sleep drained most of the color from his face. His pallor worried Tonks who was too concerned over his poor health to be angry at him for letting a wanted man escape them several days ago.

It was their last morning watching Harry and hidden under the Invisibility Cloak, Remus and Tonks shuffled through the tall grass a safe distance away from the lanky, lonely boy-who-lived. Harry had fallen into a rut and following him, so have they. Every morning he'd swiftly clean the pathetic breakfast his muggle relatives provided, and then he would spend the rest of the morning wandering the torrid fields and arid park. It was the same, day in and day out.

"You still haven't told me _why_ we had to let those two blokes go," Tonks whispered to Remus, speaking about Lucian Hart and the man Remus called Ralph.

"It's complicated."

"Everything is bloody complicated with you." She was irritated with him, but whenever her eyes found his colorless face, her anger became forgotten as worry and care took over. "Remus, you can't let your friendship with them get in the way. What if they hurt someone?" she asked, forcing herself to soften her tone.

"I know that they wouldn't hurt anyone," he said stubbornly. "It's not like them to—"

"But Remus, they're werewolves," Tonks groaned.

Silence.

She turned to face him, slightly apprehensive of what she'd said. Remus didn't look angry. Tonks's heart fell as she saw sadness and woe in his sorrowful eyes. A slight feeling of reproach formed within her while she blamed herself for not being careful of her sharp tongue.

"Sorry," she muttered quietly.

"It's not your fault." Tonks had to strain her ears to hear him through the sounds of the sweeping winds and flapping wings of birds. "You're right…they could be dangerous."

"I didn't mean it that way," she told him. She took his hand but Remus didn't respond. He only looked at Harry although Tonks knew he wasn't thinking about Harry at the moment. "Can you just tell me why you decided to let them go the other day? What came over you?"

"I don't know."

_CRACK!_

The tell-tale sound of apparition took them by surprise. Remus and Tonks froze, staring apprehensively at Harry who had also noticed the sound. Harry was turning, looking in all directions, searching for where the sound came from. Disappointment fell over his downcast eyes as he saw nothing but the dying grass, the withered belladonnas, and the silent birds.

"What was that?" Tonks whispered and drew her wand as Remus shook his head.

Then they heard muffled voices, arguing with each other although friendly.

"That was pathetic!" a familiar voice whispered with a joking tone.

"I never thought side-along would be more difficult," someone laughed softly.

"I told you _I_ should have done it," Alexis Black's voice sighed.

"Lexi?" Tonks called towards the spot where she and Remus suspected Alexis was.

Unafraid that Harry might see them; Alexis pulled the cloak off of her head and smiled at where Remus and Tonks stood. Following her, Tonks pulled the cloak down as well, revealing only her and Remus's head, making the sight of three floating heads beyond strange.

"We knew you'd be here," she said. "Mrs. Figg says Harry's very predictable."

"Yes, he doesn't do much," Tonks nodded.

They stood for a while in comfortable silence. Often, Tonks would glance to her side at Remus, wondering if he was still thinking about what she'd said earlier about Hart and his being a werewolf. By the distant look in his tired eyes, she knew that thought hadn't left his pensive mind. Sighing, Tonks turned back to her cousin.

"Think you can last for a week, Lexi?" Tonks asked while her cousin's floating head was turning, looking around at their barren surroundings.

Alexis shook her head, silky black hair swaying side to side. "I'd die of boredom," she replied. "Is it me or does Harry seem rather—"

"Lonely?" Remus finished, finally speaking up. "He's wants to hear more from us."

"So he comes here every day?" Alexis asked.

Tonks nodded. "Gripping a letter in his hand, reading it over and over."

Shaking her head again, Alexis continued to look around. Her dark eyes glistened like obsidian stones under the sunlight. Tonks could see she was focused on the pile of withered belladonnas around Harry and the hummingbirds fluttering about. She frowned and continued to watch the boy with unruly black hair, sitting idly on a lonely swing.

"This is a depressing sight," Alexis said. "He couldn't have chosen a less dismal place?"

"I don't know why," said Tonks, always glancing at Remus to try and see what's on his mind. He seemed focused on Harry. "Maybe he likes this place."

"With withered belladonnas and silent hummingbirds? It just makes the feeling of loneliness ten times worse. Belladonnas, pretty flowers of loneliness—and birds that cannot sing cannot say what they want to." She shook her head. "That's just depressing."

"Silent hummingbirds," Tonks mumbled. She couldn't help but glance at Remus again.

"Just because you are especially fond of birds," someone laughed under the cloak.

Tonks raised an eyebrow but Remus paid no attention. "Who else is under the cloak?"

"George," Alexis replied as George Weasley stuck his head out floating bodiless beside them, sweating while his fiery red hair glowed under the summer sun. "It's so hot!" he groaned as Alexis began to answer Tonks's unasked question. "Marrick couldn't make it. He was forced to go with Fudge to Wiltshire to settle increased violence over there."

"Yes and Sirius convinced mum to let me help out since we're not really doing anything dangerous," George Weasley grinned. "Took a while but she finally caved in. Fred's appalled!"

"Brilliant!" Tonks smiled.

"Not as brilliant as you," the young Weasley responded. "You and Remus made both muggle news and The Daily Prophet third page with that helicopter stunt."

"They know it was us?" Remus asked, concerned, tuning into the conversation.

"Of course not," Alexis assured them. "They don't know what caused that helicopter to crash but the Order had a feeling it was you two. What happened anyways?"

"We ran into a few people thinking they wanted to hurt Harry," Tonks replied shortly.

"We'll talk about that later," Remus cut in with an urgent, purposeful look. "Lexi, you said Marrick had to go settle violence in Wiltshire. Is it about werewolves?"

Knowing that he wouldn't let the werewolf matter rest and neither could she, Tonks shot Remus a look but said nothing and forced her eyes back to her pixie-like cousin who positively glows in the sunlight. Around George, she looked at lot less stressed and troubled than before.

"Yeah; I reckon you two don't get to see the Prophet while you're on Guard Duty."

"What happened?" Remus pressed, surprising Alexis slightly.

George answered, "Another Unspeakable and his family were killed," and Alexis's smile quivered but she kept up her mirthful façade. "Others were killed too. Some reported they saw Fenrir Greyback in the area with his pack so the Minister had to go and calm people down."

She didn't think it was possible but Remus's pallid face paled even more. He looked as white as a sheet and rocked where he stood. Quickly, she held onto his waist, stabling him. Remus's loving eyes shot her a grateful look, forgetting about their previous tension.

"Greyback and his pack you said?" Remus asked weakly.

Alexis nodded but she and George both noticed the change in Remus. "George and I can watch Harry from here," she spoke in a mellow voice. "Tonks, I think you and Remus should head back to Grimmauld—get some rest. No offense but you two look dreadful."

* * *

Following Alexis's comment, Remus and Tonks returned to Mrs. Figg's place to give the kind woman their gratitude and apparated back to Grimmauld Place. When they finally got back, they'd exchanged only a few words with the rest of the house's occupants before retreating to the library and going off separately on their own work—Remus with his rummaging of old newspapers and Tonks with her reports.

Paperwork was utterly dreadful. Tonks sighed and pulled at her disheveled pink hair while she tried to complete yet another report about werewolf violence. It was torture for her. At every sentence, she would look up at the waning young man across the room from her. She grumbled under her breath. They still haven't spoken about the werewolf problem.

"I can't focus anymore," Tonks sighed as she read over her work and noticed all the errors upon the parchment. Giving up, she crumpled the half-finished report and tossed it aside.

Remus was still skimming through a newspaper, sitting amidst a mess of old Daily Prophets. Tonks couldn't understand what he was doing and cannot keep quiet much longer. She pushed herself off the old desk chair she'd been occupying and made her way over to him beside the wooden coffee table in the middle of the sitting area in the library.

"Remus, what are you up to?" Tonks questioned, keeping her voice soft.

He didn't look up. "I'm trying to find out what Fenrir Greyback's entire pack is doing in London…or so close to London," he replied. "Lucian and Ralph are both from the pack."

She took a seat on the floor beside him, biting her lips as she tried to peer over his shoulder onto the moving headlines of a Prophet two weeks back. "Can you set that down for a moment?" Tonks placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention.

His darkening eyes read on for a few more seconds before he folded the paper neatly back up and cast it aside. Gently, Remus turned around, not allowing her hand to break contact from him, and he looked at her, blue eyes meeting green ones. He didn't seem mad at all but more than ever, that sorrow was still there.

Tonks drew a short breath. "Listen, what I said this morning about your friend being a werewolf…I didn't mean it like that." Remus shook his head but Tonks persisted on. "I know what you were thinking," she said firmly. "Look, I know not all werewolves are dangerous. _You're_ not dangerous. But…like everyone else, there can be the bad few." She licked her lips, wondering if she was wording things right. "It's just…Hart is wanted by the Ministry.

"I know you're irritated because you had to let a wanted man go because of me…"

"I'm irritated because I had to let him go without an explanation. Can you explain to me what you're doing? You seem incredibly troubled after Hart and that other man spoke to you."

He nodded and gently, she shifted closer to him, leaning against the side of his back as he showed her several of the papers he'd been looking through.

"The other man was Ralph Martin, I'm sure you've heard of him," Remus said and Tonks nodded slowly. "Ralph and Lucian are both a part of Fenrir Greyback's werewolf pack. Them, and a few other people are." He pointed her attention to several names on the paper beside _Fenrir Greyback_. She recognized names like _Selene Hawkins, Lucian Hart, and Lysandra Wolfram_. "I don't understand what their agenda is. Greyback is loyal to Voldemort, but not these people despite being in the same pack."

Tonks sighed. "Remus, you've got to stop seeing only the good side of people. They're human. They have a bad side too. Maybe these werewolves are down here to help Greyback with whatever task You-Know-Who has asked of them."

Remus shook his head, still stubborn as ever. "Not Selene. I _know_ Selene. She wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Remus, she's suspected for murder on over ten cases," said Tonks flatly. "You're too kind with people, love."

He bit his lips, looking troubled. A distant look glazed over his eyes and Remus seemed to be dawdling in his thoughts. Tonks left him be, sitting there quietly for a very long time. She continued to look over the papers, especially the headlines involving the werewolf attacks she'd see way too many of. For some strange reason, every time she came across Selene Hawkins's name, the incessant feeling of worry inside of her grew and grew.

"Were you close to Selene Hawkins?" Tonks asked without preamble.

Remus looked up, mildly stunned. "What?" he asked.

She smiled. "Never mind," said Tonks. "Now, why do you think Greyback's whole pack is so willing to help You-Know-Who out?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out. Greyback does so out of loyalty. The rest of his pack…I'm not quite sure. There _has_ to be something in it for them though. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so willing. And we don't even know what they're up to yet."

"We'll find out more about this later," she told him and patted his shoulder. "Look," Tonks's eyes turned towards the star-strewn indigo sky outside. "It's almost moonrise."

"I'd nearly forgotten," he said softly and struggled to get up.

Tonks put her arm under his armpit immediately, helping him up to his feet. Without trouble, Tonks helped Remus out of the library, glimpsing and smiling at Sirius and Silvia who were in the kitchen discussing something and looking as troubled as them. Then she and Remus carefully made their way up the old, creaking staircase, past the malevolent house-elf who displayed obvious dislike towards them—_the werewolf and shape-shifting freak._

Remus groaned once they reached the third landing where the attic was. "Don't you feel like you're wasting your life away sometimes?" he asked suddenly.

Tonks looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Nymphadora, you shouldn't have to take care of an old man like this—"

She'd thumped him on the side of the head, effectively hushing him up and strangely putting a smile on his face. "Another word and I'll push you down the stairs," she threatened half-heartedly. When he chuckled, Tonks thought Remus was just being odd, yet she smiled.

As the moon drew closer, they put more haste in their actions. Tonks helped Remus up into the dusty old attic Sirius had cleaned out days ago. Following the usual routine, Tonks would watch as Remus carefully set up a place for his transformations, placed spells around it for safety despite having access to Wolfsbane Potion that month, and then sit patiently as the moon rises. She'd exchanged soft words of comfort and reassurance with him. Before she even realized it, Remus was beginning to feel the tension upon his body and was beckoning her out the door.

Tonks was reluctant to leave. She poked her head into the room with worry etched into her gaze, said a few more private words to him before mastering her will and forced herself to pull away. The spells sealed as she closed the door. She wouldn't see him again until morning.

"He wouldn't even risk it with the potion?" Sirius asked quietly.

She shook her head solemnly. "He used to let us in."

Sirius shook his head, casually letting his black hair fall into his grey eyes. "Not after what happened to you two at that bloody cave months ago—Remus wouldn't want to risk it again." He smiled and led her downstairs. "Come," he said. "Silvia's making tea."

"Where are Molly and everyone else?" Tonks asked as they reached the second landing.

"Sitting room; Molly's in tears because of Percy. We shouldn't to intrude on them."

"How have things been in the week we were gone?"

"It's been…as expected," Sirius replied sounding like he'd left a lot out. When they finally got to the kitchen, as if she was cursed Tonks would trip over the troll-leg umbrella stand. Fortunately, Sirius was quick enough to pull her back—however ungracefully.

"Colorful, clumsy, Tonksie," Silvia smiled as she set down three steaming cups of tea.

Taking her seat, Tonks asked, "Since when did you start calling me Tonksie?"

Sirius grinned and sat across from her, stealing glances at his pregnant wife. Tonks stayed quiet for a moment, content with simply watching the married couple. Something seemed to be wrong between them. One week ago, Silvia sighed a lot less and Sirius didn't openly frown at all. Now, they were sitting in silence, sighing and frowning but not saying a word.

When the silence became too much, Tonks spoke. "Did something happen?"

Sirius sighed and shifted in his seat as Silvia drank her tea.

"What's wrong with you two?" she asked bluntly.

"Sirius and I have been falling out over a few disagreements," Silvia confessed but Tonks noticed Sirius had shot her a look. She paid no attention to it and ignored him. "We've been getting letters from Harry at least twice a day now. He wants to know what's going on."

"Yeah, Remus and I saw him trying to write to you."

Sirius's expression darkened. It was obvious he didn't want to speak about it but Silvia had other thoughts in mind. "Sirius wants to tell Harry everything," she said, placing a firm hand on her husband's shoulder. "What do _you_ think, Tonks?" Silvia's motive then became clear.

"Um…" Tonks began, unsure of what to say.

"He's fifteen, he deserves to know. He's not a kid anymore—"

"But he's not an adult either, love," Silvia argued although her voice was soft.

"Harry fought Voldemort," Sirius muttered. "We wouldn't have known that he's back."

"But he deserves to be able to enjoy a bit of his summer."

"Like he could enjoy anything with those selfish muggles," Sirius grumbled.

Silvia smacked his arm. "Just because they're muggles—"

Tonks didn't expect this—she didn't expect this at all. She rested her head on her hands as her emerald eyes traveled back and forth between husband and wife, bickering over their teenage godson. Before the argument shifted to anger and screaming, Sirius and Silvia had stopped abruptly. Tonks was actually quite surprised. In the past, their arguments would have no end unless someone intervened and spoke reason to them. They were now avoiding each other's eyes, biting their lips and holding back their words.

The scratching sound of Silvia's chair filled Tonks's ears for a moment. Silvia had gotten up, biting her lips as she headed back over to the sink and began washing her empty cup of tea, distracting herself. Sirius turned back to Tonks, searching desperately for a change of topic.

"So have you visited Andromeda lately?" he asked Tonks.

She shook her head. "Not lately; I owl her though."

"You should pay her and Ted a visit. They want to know what's going on as well." His grey eyes glanced at the back of his wife. "Last time we were there, Silv and I ran into Narcissa."

"You saw Narcissa Malfoy?" Tonks asked, disbelief dripping from her mouth.

Sirius sat back and nodded. Tonks noticed Silvia had now turned back to face them, her wand hand protectively rested upon her abdomen. "Narcissa didn't talk much," Sirius explained. "But she _did_ comment on how much the area around Andromeda's house looks like…"

"The field," said Silvia suddenly but softly. "The field of grass you always walk to."

Thoughtful grey eyes found her hazel ones. Tonks sat on the side, watching Sirius and Silvia's intense gaze that was making her feel awkward—she felt like she was intruding on a private moment. Tonks wondered if that was how other people always felt around lovers.

Gazing at Silvia, Sirius suddenly stood up, overcome by his untamed spirit, and took her hand, leading out of the kitchen and down the narrow hallway. "Come there with me," he said and his voice no longer held the irritation he had towards her from their disagreements. "It's a good place to talk. See you later Tonks."

Somewhat stunned, Tonks continued to sit in the lonely kitchen for a moment longer, staring at the old black front door that had just closed behind Sirius and Silvia's figure. Tonks finished her tea slowly, her mind unsure of what to think.

When the skies turned black and the hours became late, Tonks decided that it was time for her to leave the grim and dreary kitchen and return to her bedroom. When she gracelessly stumbled her way to the second landing however, her clumsy feet did not stop at her bedroom door. Instead, as if beyond her control, her uncoordinated steps took her up to the third landing, left down to the attic door, to Remus. She leaned on the dark wood and listened to him inside.

* * *

The dried golden grass prickled her feet as she ran. The cascading rays of the magnificent sun blinded her. Yet, she continued to run, freely and valiantly through the endless field, bubblegum pink hair dancing in the wind. She was running into the sunlight. Along the way her shockingly emerald eyes could see she'd begun to tread upon withered flower petals. She was now stepping upon dead belladonnas and shriveled daisies. It was curious. Along the way, birds began to join her, tiny birds that did not sing—silent hummingbirds. The next thing she knew, someone was speaking to her, saying words as if in another language. Her eyes turned away from the birds and found Remus, his pallid skin spotless and entirely rid of scars. Remus's gentle smile turned into Sirius's wry grin. Sirius was holding a child—Tonks guessed it was his future son. But as she ran closer, she realized the child was a girl with fair hair that looked close to blonde. Surprised, Tonks thought the child was herself, her hair color morphed to match her dad's. Then when she looked up at the person holding her, Sirius was no longer there. In his place stood Bellatrix, smiling sanely and warmly as if she'd never even seen the outside of Azkaban or the face of the Dark Lord. Holding her was Bella Black, the woman she felt she would have been close to if not for the war that tore their family apart….

"Bloody hell," her voice, hoarse and dry, croaked.

Tonks sat up and rubbed her sleepy eyes. She'd had the strangest dream ever. As she tried to recall the events of the dream, the details were rapidly slipping away from her. Soon, within several fleeting seconds, it felt as if she hadn't dreamt at all. The only thing she remembered was that she'd been running, the rest of her dream forgotten.

She let out a soft sight and leaned back on the wooden door. Tonks then realized that someone had placed a blanket upon her during the night for she was now warmly nuzzled under a thick, navy blue cover. In silence, she shifted under the blanket for a bit more. The sunlight seeping through the crevice between the floor and the bottom of the door caught her eyes.

Without a sound, Tonks pushed herself up to her feet. When she opened the door, she was not surprised to find it unlocked. Quietly, she made her way inside where beside the window, she found Remus, worn and battered, stirring slightly beneath a blanket of his own. With her secret coordination which surfaced at random, unpredictable times, Tonks strode across the floor of the attic and settled at Remus's side. He opened his eyes, yawned, stretched his bare, injured arms, and then sat up. His blue eyes met hers, glittering under morning light.

Tonks frowned. Her fingers caressed his face where a new, deeper scar had been made. Blood was still caked around it. Along his body, several more could be seen although fortunately not as deep. "What happened?" she asked as she took his shirt and helped him into it.

Remus sighed but did not look down or upset. "I got bored," he replied simply.

"Remus, you masochistic idiot," Tonks joked, her hoarse voice growing smoother.

A soft laugh escaped Remus's mouth.

"Maybe on the next moon, you should take a book with you so you don't hurt yourself in your boredom," Tonks suggested. Her slender fingers found his buttons and began to button him up while Remus simply sat there, content with watching her while a grateful and loving smile found its way across his lips. "Here, let's get downstairs and I'll make you some tea," said Tonks after she'd helped him get his trousers on. "Then we'll figure out what to do about your cuts."

Slowly the couple made their way down the ancient and squeaky flight of stairs. Arriving at the kitchen door, they were surprised to find out that they weren't the only ones awake. Inside, Silvia was moving about slowly, her right hand rubbing her showing stomach while her left hand placed tea bags in three empty cups. Tonks focused all her attention on avoiding the troll-leg umbrella stand and succeeded in passing it without falling. Remus on the other hand, was listening to the sounds of the morning—birds chirping outside the grimy kitchen window and the sound of the water boiling inside the kettle upon the stove.

"Morning Silv," Remus croaked and Tonks tried to say through a yawn.

"Hello," the Spanish woman replied with a gentle smile.

"Why are you up so early?" Tonks asked. "You're on leave, aren't you?"

Silvia nodded. "Yes, but I'm so used to waking up early," she answered as the kettle began to whistle. Silvia began pouring tea for them as she continued to speak. "Besides, I wanted to get up to make breakfast for Sirius quickly before he left." Her eyes flickered to the small pile of dishes in the sink. "Sirius hates Kreacher's cooking so we left him be."

"Where did Sirius go?" Remus asked.

"He got a letter from Mad-Eye this morning asking him to pick up some information from Severus," she replied while setting down two cups of tea in front of Remus and Tonks. "Goodness Remus, are you all right?" she asked, gesturing to the new wounds upon his face.

"I'm fine," he said while Tonks shook her head.

"You should put Anti-Scarring Paste on that. The apothecary in Diagon Alley carries it, if not; Severus would no doubt have it. I'm going out soon. I can stop by Diagon Alley for you."

"Thank you Silv but that's too much trouble for you," said Remus.

"Nonsense, I need to get out of this house for a bit anyways."

"Silv, what do you need to get?" Tonks asked.

"I was going to head down to that field Sirius likes to go to," she confessed.

"That's in the opposite direction of Charing Cross Road," said Tonks. "It's all right Silv; I can go get the paste for him."

"Are you sure?" Silvia asked kindly as she examined the tired couple.

Remus nodded. "I'll go with you," he told Tonks. "Thanks Silvia."

After Remus and Tonks finished their tea, they'd decided to head out and pick up the paste to prevent Remus from gaining any more scars. When they get back, Tonks had said that they could sleep until the evening if they needed to. Thanking Silvia for the tea, Remus and Tonks set out, wearing disheveled clothing and feeling relaxed under the summer heat. Tonks was in shorts and a cream colored blouse while Remus, scarred and tired, wore simple dark brown trousers and a white button-up shirt.

"Should we walk or apparate?" Tonks asked, holding onto his arm tightly.

"I'm strong enough to apparate," he said. "But the weather is so nice."

"Yes, much nicer than Surrey's," Tonks agreed.

"Let's just walk there," Remus smiled and his grin lit up his gentle, scar-crossed face.

The walk to Charing Cross Road wasn't long. They'd arrived at The Leaky Cauldron in time to see the morning crowd. Several middle-aged witches and wizards were there, chatting, talking, and drinking. A few people Tonks recognized from the Ministry were grabbing their breakfast before heading off to work. They said hello to Tom the barman who was old, quite bald, and reminded Tonks of a toothless walnut. Discreetly, Remus hid his injuries from the other visitors of the pub but Tonks walked casually beside him, uncaring of how others may look at them. When they finally got to the back door, Remus and Tonks exchanged a few private words before crossing the barrier onto Diagon Alley.

Disappointment came to them when Remus and Tonks arrived at Slug & Jiggers Apothecary and found out that most of their supplies, including the Anti-Scarring Paste, were sold out. Tonks wondered how the apothecary could run out of stock at such a time but Remus had a feeling he already knew why. The full moon had just passed….

"What do you mean?" Tonks questioned as they returned to the winding cobbled street.

"Perhaps other werewolves have visited the apothecary before us," Remus explained.

"And bought out most of the supplies?"

He shrugged, leaning on her slightly as his legs were beginning to tire. "It's likely."

"Bloody hell," Tonks sighed.

Tonks turned to face him, her hand holding his face as she examined the deep wound, piled onto his old scar. She never minded his scars—she never cared about them. Tonks always saw Remus, the man behind all the scars and shabbiness. But she knew that those scars were making Remus feel even more self-conscious and the new cuts and injuries were hurting him, causing him to smile less.

"Let's try going to Snape's place," said Tonks. She'd remembered that Silvia had said Snape would have some of the paste.

Remus parted his lips, about to oppose, but he relented and agreed to her suggestion. He couldn't deny that it would be nice to have fewer scars. "All right," he said. "Let's go."

* * *

Spinner's End was a dreadful place. The morning sunlight seemed lost within the drear. Remus and Tonks made their way down the street, passing a dirty river and an abandoned mill with a tall chimney. They came upon another street, identical to the rest, lined with deserted brick houses and broken street lamps. Remus knew the way to go and guided Tonks, mustering as much strength as he could to keep himself standing on his own while his trembling legs were threatening to give out. They finally came to an old, gloomy house, looking no different from the ones to its left and right. Tonks tried to look in through the dilapidated house's dull and grimy window but she could see nothing.

"This place is even worse than Grimmauld," she muttered as Remus knocked on the door.

"This is Severus's childhood home," said Remus, remembering what Dumbledore once told him. "Well of course, I guess. Severus can't stay at Hogwarts over the summer. Even Dumbledore returns to _his_ home."

Tonks only heard part of what Remus said. Her eyes trailed up and down the decrepit house and she grumbled, "How befitting for the dreariest man alive."

Remus smiled and patted her hand that held onto his arm tightly, stabling him. He shifted his weight onto his other leg and they continued to stand there for a moment, amidst the silent and drear. Finally, they heard noises from inside and the wooden door of Severus Snape's house creaked open. Standing at the doorway, they found Severus Snape, tall and looming, like an overgrown bat, greeting them with a low and drawn out, "Lupin, Nymphadora."

Upon the use of her first name, Tonks growled at Snape but refrained from snapping snarky comments at him. She drew a breath and said in a strained voice, "Snape, do you have any Anti-Scarring Paste?"

Snape's penetrating black eyes looked at the new scars that crossed Remus's weary face and he said, "I would think the apothecary would have some."

"We went there," Tonks muttered. Her eyes, now dark brown, were glaring daggers at him. "They were out."

The ends of his lips quivered upwards and Tonks could see the sneer forming across his face. She expected Snape, cruel and heartless, to slam the door in their face, but much to her surprise, he stepped back, opened the door a little wider, and allowed them entrance.

Inside, they found a dark, enclosed sitting room with threadbare furniture and walls covered in books. There was an air of neglect to it but Tonks didn't find the place odd at all. She reminded herself that she was standing in the house of Severus Snape after all and the gloom and drear fit him perfectly.

Across the sitting room, Tonks and Remus found Sirius, comfortably seated upon an old armchair looking through a pile of papers Snape seemed to have laid out for him. When Sirius saw them his eyes brightened and a grin spread across his previously bored face.

Snape closed the door behind him and proceeded over to a shelf on the left wall where he pulled out a book that caused the wall to shift and turn into a shelf full of potions ingredients. "Anti-Scarring Paste, is it Lupin?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you Severus," Remus smiled cordially.

"What are you two doing here?" Sirius asked, standing up.

"We needed some stuff to treat Remus's injuries but the apothecary was out of stock in almost everything," Tonks replied. "And I guess you're here to get information?"

Sirius nodded. "Correct, and I'm nearly done so we can leave together. For god's sake Nymphie, Moony looks like he can barely stand." Sirius shook his head and helped Remus into the armchair he was occupying earlier.

A sudden knock on the door caught their attention and four sets of eyes turned to face Snape's closed front door. "Who else did you bring, Lupin?" Snape asked. It was obvious he wasn't expecting anyone else over.

"No one," said Remus apprehensively.

In one silent stride, Snape turned away from his shelf and headed towards the door. He peered through the peephole while the other three watched him closely. Tonks didn't think it was possible but Snape's expression fell and he looked incredibly worried. He turned sharply back to face them and hurriedly pulled Tonks and Remus towards a bookshelf where he pulled at another book and revealed to them a small room, a closet that looked like it could barely fit the two of them.

"In here, quickly," he stressed.

"Wait, what's going on?" Tonks asked but Snape had roughly slammed her and Remus into the closet and was already pushing the shelf closed. Luckily, they could still see the whole of the sitting room through the small gaps between the books and the shelves.

"Black, transform, now," Snape huffed and surprisingly, Sirius didn't question him and did as asked. Where Sirius stood, there now was a large black dog with clean but shaggy black hair. He walked around the room once and decided to stand facing the door, a look of apprehension clearly visible upon his face even in canine form.

"What's going on?" Tonks turned to Remus and whispered.

He shrugged saying, "I have no idea," and continued looking out at the sitting room through the spaces between the books and shelf.

Snape returned to the door and with one brief look behind him at his sitting room, he opened it. Immediately, two people entered and Tonks felt her body tense considerably. In walked Barty Crouch, healthier than when he'd escaped the Ministry, with straw-colored hair and perpetually haunted eyes. He was smiling as he entered. Behind him was a woman and when Tonks laid eyes upon her, Tonks was overcame by worry. Narcissa Malfoy walked in, blonde and wearing a cold expression upon her face that bore the patrician beauty of the Black's and looked so much like Andromeda. The door closed behind her and Snape turned back to look at everyone. His eyes flickered from Crouch to Narcissa, from Narcissa to the shelf where Remus and Tonks were hidden, and finally his worried gaze found the large black dog standing perfectly still in his sitting room.

Tonks's heart dropped. Narcissa had spent time with Sirius in their childhood. No doubt she'd be able to recognize the large, black dog as him, even though she didn't know he was an animagus. Narcissa Malfoy was a quick and clever woman after all.

Her fears were quickly realized when she saw Narcissa's eyebrows contract at the large black dog in front of her.

Remus took Tonks's hand and held onto her tightly. "Oh no," he murmured.

Sirius barked once at Narcissa but she didn't flinch. Instead, she took a step closer to him.

"Fuck," Tonks hissed under her breath.


	4. The Failures of the Ministry

**Author's Note:**

I apologize for not updating in so long. I'm so sorry! :/ I hope you'll understand, things are a little overwhelming right now. I'm applying for colleges, keeping up with really annoying schoolwork, and I really want to work on my story I'm writing. Also, I'm still reading J.K. Rowling's new book, The Casual Vacancy. It's wonderful so far and is no Harry Potter but I'm really liking the story. Err, I don't know when I'll update again but hopefully I won't leave you for over a month again. I'm still very sorry. Though the good news is, for those who haven't finished my other stories, you have time to read them before I overwhelm you with more updates xD Anyways, I hope you'll like this chapter. And wow I miss Harry Potter so much. (Feeling nostalgic). Thank you for all your support! 3

* * *

**Chapter 04 – The Failures of the Ministry**

Tonks stared from behind the bookshelf with bated breath as Narcissa drew another step closer to the large black dog in the center of Severus Snape's dark sitting room. Beside her, Remus, scarred and injured on that post-moon morning, had stopped breathing entirely, his wand drawn and preparing for the worse. Following him, her fingers began stroking the place where her wand rested in its sheath beneath her robes. She was about to draw it when Narcissa made another movement that took her entirely by surprise.

Her fingers withdrew as Narcissa dropped gracefully down to her knees and began petting the large black dog. A wistful smile occupied the icy woman's face and Tonks had to take a moment to regain herself. That smile on Narcissa Malfoy's mouth had shaken her.

"When did you get a dog, Severus?" Narcissa asked without a hint of suspicion.

Snape tensed. "Just recently," he spoke in his low, drawling voice.

Narcissa said nothing more. Tonks let out a sigh of relief while beside her, Remus rested his head on the back of her shoulder, sighing. She could feel his warm breath graze the back of her neck. They contented themselves with watching the meeting between Severus Snape, Barty Crouch, and Narcissa Malfoy, hoping they'd find some useful information.

Finally letting go of Sirius who stood stiffly beneath Narcissa's petting hands, the beautiful blonde woman shifted so that she sat on the threadbare armchair beside the dog, facing Snape. Crouch, tall, lanky, with straw-colored hair and looking more like his old, youthful self, occupied the armchair across from her. Snape stood to the side. His tall, looming figure was deliberately covering up most of the bookshelf Remus and Tonks were hiding behind. Tonks shifted and so did Remus, silently in their hiding place, to get a better view of the room.

"Not that I don't welcome your visit, Bartemius, Narcissa," Snape began. "But why are you here so early? I wasn't expecting you until this afternoon." His voice was unchanging.

"I came with Barty," Narcissa answered while her hand continued to stroke Sirius's black fur as if she couldn't help it. "He said he needed the information urgently. The plan, it has to be started earlier—the Dark Lord cannot wait."

"I need the Wolfsbane Potion, Severus," Barty Crouch spoke up. "The dogs are questioning whether they can trust us or not. They need to see a sample."

Watching them, Remus could imagine Snape raising an eyebrow while maintaining an indifferent composure. He pressed his ear closer to the bookshelf all the while keeping his eyes on Crouch. The man was speaking about werewolves and Remus was dying to find out more information on what Fenrir Greyback and his pack were up to, so close to London.

"Might I ask what is it you are planning to do?" said Snape carefully with a fixed look of indifference upon his face. "How are you planning on helping the Dark Lord gain his prize?"

Tonks turned to Remus with a surprised look and whispered, "_Prize?_"

Remus hushed her and they continued listening, pushing harder against the bookshelf.

Narcissa chuckled dryly. "I would think he would tell _you_, Severus, before everyone else." Her voice was cold towards Snape. It was obvious that upon this mission, Narcissa was also involved. Tonks felt strange to admit that she was related to the woman whom she'd thought was a shade of grey. Now she was entirely dark.

"I was only told what the Dark Lord is after, not of your plans to retrieve it."

"If he hasn't told you, then it is not necessary for you to know," said Narcissa coolly.

"Either way, this plan of mine is sure to work," Crouch assured with great confidence. "Dumbledore's ragged Order is much too moral and emotionally attached. I am certain of a way to handle them and they will have to deliver it right into our hands."

Snape arched an eyebrow. "You are certain?" He turned to Narcissa who, upon mentioning of Barty Crouch's plan, had grown solemn.

She merely nodded and Crouch continued his speech. "You will be surprised, Severus. Now please, I need the instructions for how to brew the potion and a sample if you will."

Snape nodded curtly. Hoping to get everyone out of his house, his private haven quickly, he hurried over to a shelf where many of his premade potions were stored. With a sweeping motion of his arm, he grabbed a cauldron full of the Wolfsbane Potion along with a scroll of parchment and handed both items to Crouch. Remus could tell it was definitely Wolfsbane Potion because of the expression of disgust that appeared on Narcissa's face when she caught the slightest scent of it.

"If that is all you need," Snape said.

Nodding, Crouch and Narcissa headed for the door. They were planning on leaving quickly in the shadows, lowering the chances of being spotted by anyone. Crouch was already out the door but Narcissa was lingering, her eyes fixated upon the large black dog. She wasn't simply looking at him. Narcissa was gazing into his eyes, his piercing grey eyes she'd seen so often and had grown to know so well.

"Is something wrong, Narcissa?" Snape asked.

She hesitated, bit her lips, and asked, "Severus, that dog…what do you call him?"

Snape turned back and Remus could see a slightly amused smile cross the thin lips of his old classmate. The Potions Master then turned back to face Narcissa who was no longer icy but curious and answered, "Padfoot."

"Padfoot," Narcissa smiled wistfully and nodded. Before stepping out the door, she turned back to _Padfoot_ and said, "Goodbye…Padfoot."

Once she left, Snape slammed the door shut again. They all stood silent, waiting for several more minutes until they deemed it safe to reveal themselves. Remus and Tonks pushed open the bookshelf concealing the hiding space they'd been stuffed into earlier and began to stretch their aching joints. Sirius transformed back into his human self and stared at the closed door while Snape glared at them, strode across his sitting room to gather the things he needed to give to them, and finally shoved those items—the scrolls of information and the Anti-Scarring Paste—into their arms.

"What's Voldemort after?" Remus questioned.

"Yes, what is this _prize_ they're talking about?"

"Answers can be found in the scroll I've given you," said Snape tersely.

"What do you think Crouch and Narcissa are planning?" Tonks asked Remus.

"I don't know," Remus replied softly and turned to Snape for an answer.

"There is nothing that I can tell you either, Lupin," Snape replied.

Rolling her eyes at all the help Snape was giving them, Tonks said, "We'll discuss this at the Order meeting." She would look into what Crouch was up to later. Her wandering eyes then found Sirius who looked dumbfounded beside Remus. His grey eyes were still staring at the door. Tonks was about to question what was wrong but Remus had beaten her to it.

"Sirius, what's wrong?" Remus asked gently.

"Narcissa knew it was me," he said. "Why didn't she point it out?"

Tonks turned back to the door. "I don't know," she sighed.

"We know one thing though," Remus said and both Tonks and Sirius turned to look at him. "Voldemort wants something, badly I assume, and he's sent Crouch and Narcissa to retrieve it. They have a plan made…and they know the one true weakness of the Order…"

* * *

The clock was almost six, heavy rain could be heard pounding endlessly outside, and instead of napping at her desk, waiting for the day to be over, Tonks was purposely following Kingsley around, discussing with him about the changes and progress in the many cases involving werewolf attacks. After telling Kingsley what she'd learned from overhearing Crouch's conversation, he'd asked her to follow him as they rechecked all evidences and prosecutions of the cases on their hands.

"Are you certain they're not all from Greyback's pack?" Tonks questioned and Kingsley shook his head as he flipped through a heavy folder of reports Savage had handed them.

"Very certain," he replied. "The only names you mentioned to me were Hart, Martin, Fell, Wolfram, and Hawkins. Those five are the only ones in Greyback's pack. All the others are just random ones. Many aren't even registered in the werewolf registry yet."

"Then they're newly bitten. Maybe they're being used as scapegoats to cover up the real intentions of werewolves from Greyback's pack."

Kingsley sighed and flipped through the papers again. "What's got you so adamant on looking into Greyback's pack?" he asked.

"Remus," she replied quietly. "I told you about this the other day. We encountered Hart and Martin but Remus let them go and said they were his old friends from the pack. He thinks that they're involved in all this somehow and with…the _Death Eaters_," she whispered the last bit. "But he wouldn't tell me what's on his mind and he's been acting strange whenever we mention one of their names, especially Selene Hawkins."

"Wait a minute, Tonks, you never told me Remus was once in Greyback's pack."

"I figured you knew," she replied simply. Her eyebrows contracted in thought. "I figured everyone knew that Remus had been a part of it."

"No." Kingsley shook his head. "That's completely new information to me." He paused and tapped the quill against his chin for a moment while thinking. "Tonks, perhaps you should speak with Remus about this. Don't take me the wrong way here but he's hiding something."

It was hard for her to believe that Remus, sweet and genuine bookworm Remus, was hiding something, but the possibility cannot be denied. She nodded and sighed, wondering when and how she would speak to him about it. "Can you look over the werewolf activities for me?"

"I'll look through it over and over until I find something peculiar," he assured her. "Hell, I'll even get your genius of a cousin to look for you."

"Lexi?" Tonks queried. "Can she do that? She's an Unspeakable."

"And those Unspeakables are responsible for a lot of the Ministry's cover up activities and Black Box Operations," Kingsley smirked.

"You're joking!" Tonks whispered and laughed, finding the news interesting. "No wonder Lexi's so damn good at spells even though she's so lazy!"

Kingsley nodded again and smiled. "Is that all you need to know for now?"

"What about looking for Crouch? Is there any way we can catch him?"

"Very difficult," he replied while tossing the folder onto another pile of floating paperwork that was following the two around as they walked. "Crouch knows how the Ministry works too well. He cannot be found if he doesn't want to be."

Rolling her eyes, Tonks let out a loud groan. "Silv, Lexi and I spent a whole year trying to catch him and now he's out and about again."

She suddenly felt Kingsley's hand on her shoulder and realized he was trying to comfort her. When she looked at him, Kingsley had on a kind, reassuring smile. "You freed Mad-Eye and helped us realize how Crouch had escaped Azkaban in the first place. Now," Kingsley was back to business, "what else did you hear Crouch say? Can you remember?"

"He and Narcissa were talking about retrieving something for You-Know-Who. They needed the Wolfsbane Potion to get it done. That's why I was asking about the werewolves."

"Crouch was with Narcissa?" Tonks nodded and Kingsley's eyes widened. "Bloody hell Tonks, why didn't you say this earlier?" Kingsley had now entered his office and began to gather his things, preparing to leave work. "Marrick just returned from Wiltshire saying a lot of werewolf murders are focused up there and they look mostly like accidents! That must be where they are based, because the Malfoy family lives in Wiltshire."

"Is Marrick here?" Kingsley nodded. "Then come on King!" she urged. "We have to go talk to Marrick." For once in her life, Tonks felt like she had a purpose hurrying around the corridors of her workplace—she was no longer the new auror on the team and could not be looked down upon anymore.

Rushing to pack up his things, Kingsley ran and caught up with her just as they made another turn down the elegant but undeniably mundane hall to where Marrick's office sat. Marrick was of a higher position than Tonks and was given the luxury of an office—she was always jealous of him for that. As she and Kingsley came close to it, they noticed that all the blinds were pulled down and the door was shut tight. Not even a speck of light from inside could escape the completely closed off room. Tonks wondered if Marrick was actually in there.

In their hurry, Tonks and Kingsley knocked quickly upon the glass door set in a wooden frame. Tonks turned the doorknob just as she heard loud, ruffling noises coming from inside.

"Marrick, we need to talk," she said as she entered.

"Bugger," Marrick's voice sighed while another, more than familiar voice said in an exasperated sigh, "Merlin's pants, you aurors have the _worse_ timing!"

Tonks looked up and so did Kingsley. Immediately, they felt awkward and began to stutter before speaking. It appears they've interrupted a very private meeting between Marrick and Alexis. Tonks felt awfully intrusive as she watched her cousin hastily buttoning up her scarlet red blouse and Marrick rearranging the items on his desk—the couple was blushing profusely. Around Alexis's neck, Tonks caught a glimpse of a necklace bearing a firewhiskey cork. That was strange. Tonks didn't think her cousin would love firewhiskey _that_ much.

Marrick cleared his throat to defuse the awkward silence but his cheeks were still wearing scarlet. "Um, Kingsley, Tonks, what did you need to ask me?" he asked quietly while Alexis occupied herself with a set of reports of his—she was wearing an irritated look.

Kingsley gave Tonks a nudge forward. She _was_, after all, the one who walked in on Alexis and Marrick having a shag right in Marrick's office. "Um," Tonks stuttered. "W-we needed t-to…ask you about your trip to um-uh Wiltshire."

"Not much went on," Marrick answered, recovering from his initial embarrassment. "Fudge was just trying to act like a brilliant and involved Minister."

"We meant what you learned about Greyback," said Kingsley, having decided to keep silent until then. He glanced at Alexis but quickly returned to Marrick when she gave him and Tonks one of the nastiest looks he'd ever seen on the darkly beautiful young woman. Kingsley turned back to close the door and once assured that the conversation was between them, continued, "Tonks, Remus, and Sirius overheard Crouch and Narcissa discussing a plan to retrieve something. I'm guessing that _something_ will be revealed to us at the next Order meeting. Did you happen to hear anything about this plan of theirs while you were in Wiltshire?"

"And it definitely involves werewolves," said Tonks, avoiding her cousin's lethal glare. "Crouch came over and asked Snape specifically for the instructions to brewing Wolfsbane Potion. It appears they're controlling the werewolves following them with the potion."

Marrick got up and he too began to gather his things as the hour hand on the clock struck six. "Yes, Greyback," he began while packing up a set of papers with Alexis's help. "While Fudge was trying to gather supporters for his next election, we came across news that Fenrir Greyback was trying to form a pack. He'd gotten a lot of werewolves to join him," Marrick looked up—his dusty emerald eyes were grim, "and he's bitten a lot more. We now know why there are so many disappearances as of late."

Tonks zoned out for a moment, recalling what Remus had told her about Fenrir Greyback. "He likes them young," she said softly. "It's so he can condition them to think that humans are bad and to embrace their beastly nature."

"I guess so," Marrick sighed. The four of them walked out into the hall and after Marrick locked the doors to his office, they began heading to the Atrium which was a rather long walk from where they were. "There was something else though. We've confirmed that Greyback and a woman, Selene Hawkins, are both plotting to go after someone. I don't know whether they want to kill that person or bite them and infect them with lycanthropy as well, but I know that apparently they need strong numbers to get to this person.

"Whoever their target is, the person would have to be quite powerful," Tonks mumbled.

"Our biggest priority right now is to arrest Greyback and Hawkins as soon as possible," said Kingsley. "Whoever this target may be and whatever You-Know-Who is after, we'll discuss it in the meeting. For now, I'm going to post up the arrest bulletin." Kingsley left them abruptly to turn back to the direction of his office.

"I need to speak with Remus then," said Tonks quietly.

"Why do you need to speak with Remus?" Marrick asked but Alexis said in an exasperated sigh, "If there are _werewolves_ involved, then there's _Remus_ involved."

Tonks rolled her eyes at her cousin, smirked briefly, and then replied, "Because he was once in Greyback's wolf pack. Apparently this is news to everyone."

"Yes," said Marrick and Alexis together in unison. "That is news indeed," Alexis went on. "How come he never told any of us this? If he hadn't told you, has he told Sirius?"

"I don't know," she murmured. "I'll speak with him." Tonks was looking at the floor as she walked, wondering what kind of explanation she would get from Remus. Fenrir Greyback was the very werewolf that had bitten Remus. It was difficult to believe Remus was willing to join his pack after that. And furthermore, Greyback and his pack had been infamous within the Ministry and Britain for their cruelty and high level of attacks. Tonks shuddered at the thought of Remus being one of them.

When she looked back up again, Tonks saw Dawlish and Proudfoot approaching. Dawlish looked absolutely radiant—he was ridiculously proud of himself—but Proudfoot looked uncomfortable and troubled. Tonks stood in front of them, blocking their way. Her eyes fixed the two contrasting aurors with a steel gaze, wondering whether something has happened, knowing that they were in charge of the case that involved the death of Alice Chadwell, the Unspeakable.

"Why are _you_ so happy?" she asked Dawlish, unable to hide her dislike for him.

"We closed the case involving the dead Unspeakable," Dawlish replied, suppressing a grin and glanced at Alexis.

Tonks's cousin hurried forward and gripped Dawlish's arm. "You caught the person who killed Alice?" she questioned, anxious to know.

"Not exactly," said Dawlish and before Tonks could slap him to get to the point, Proudfoot had spoken up with the entire explanation. "We…or Dawlish found evidence at the crime scene suggesting that Alice Chadwell's death was part of a conspiracy within the Department of Mysteries. There were traces of other Unspeakables there at her house and seeing that Chadwell was one of the few who knew all protections within Level Nine inside and out, she was a very likely target for any attack. This case has now shifted from a murder investigation to a conspiracy investigation." Proudfoot didn't seem proud of himself.

Tonks was puzzled and she was trying to understand what they'd done. Alexis on the other hand, understood everything and was staring at Dawlish with a dumbfounded look, her mouth agape and her eyes in utter bewilderment. After a long silence, she finally said, "Mr. John Dawlish…are you an _idiot?_" Her voice rang through the auror office, causing many snickers and stifled laughter. "What the hell are you talking about with these conspiracy theories?"

And Tonks finally understood. "Bloody hell, Dawlish, you're making things so much harder than it is. Why are you going off on all these conspiracy theories? They're utter rubbish."

Dawlish was unable to respond to Alexis as she was a Department Head and he was simply an auror, but he was on equal grounds with Tonks. "I am doing the right thing, Auror Tonks," he snarled at her, clearly offended by them both. "You were pulled off this investigation because of your own childish behavior. As your senior, I would appreciate some respect."

She glowered at Dawlish. Tonks tried to follow him but Alexis's firm grip on her held her back. "Respect?" Tonks scoffed indignantly.

"Tonks, let it go," Alexis sighed, leaning on Marrick as she rubbed her tired eyes.

There was a sudden need within her to help her cousin and Tonks jumped at it. She turned to Dawlish and her voice reached a crescendo. "Dawlish you dolt! You're jumping to conclusions you blithering idiot!"

Dawlish ignored her and walked on off with Proudfoot and a completed case in hand.

"Tonks, calm down!" Alexis snapped but Tonks ignored her.

"DAWLISH!" she shrieked as the auror walked further away from her. "JOHN DAWLISH YOU BLOODY IDIOT! GET YOUR STUPID ARSE BACK HERE!"

* * *

The scent of tea was relaxing him and Remus voiced a gentle 'thank-you' to Molly Weasley who was smiling and bustled out of the kitchen to the upstairs—another bang had sounded and she could only fear Fred and George were up to something, again. Shaking his head and smiling at the mischief the twins promised every day, Remus sat back and enjoyed his tea. He took a small sip at first then wondered why exactly he was alone in the kitchen. He set his cup down and looked around. Sirius and Silvia had vanished. Funny, they were right in front of him just minutes ago after checking the mail and exchanging furtive glares at one another.

"Oh Sirius," Remus sighed when he heard arguing sounding from the library.

Quietly, Remus lifted himself up to his feet and left the kitchen, his hands in the pockets of his trousers. The first door to the right of him was the library and when he approached it, he saw that the door was set ajar. Sirius's and Silvia's strained voices could be heard—they were trying their hardest not to yell. Remus shook his head and exhaled again. The tensions within the house—or at least between Sirius and Silvia—have been rising at a steady pace ever since the first Order meeting. It was the First Wizarding War all over again.

"You don't understand at all!" Sirius was the first to yell.

"What do you mean I don't understand?" Silvia retorted. "I care for Harry just as much as you! I was Lily's best friend! What? You think I _enjoy_ seeing you so worked up over not being able to tell him anything?"

"Well you sure don't seem to give a damn about it!" Sirius replied.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in weariness. Remus was trying to block them out. Fortunately for him, he found an excuse to turn his mind elsewhere. The front door clicked with the familiar sounds of the spells unlocking. At that time, it could only mean that Tonks was coming home. Blue eyes glanced at the clock sitting on the mantelpiece in the living room—she was later than usual.

"You've got to be kidding me," Alexis entered first, closely followed by Marrick who was trying to assuage her rising temper. Remus watched. It seemed that today, she wasn't angry, just exasperated and before he could ask why as he'd grown to see her as a very close friend, Alexis's further words answered his unasked questions. "Nymphadora Tonks you impulsive wanker," she groaned while placing a hand over her left eye and shaking her head. Remus looked further back and saw a streak of flaming red hair enter the premise. "Thanks for giving me a bloody black eye!" Alexis continued and charged down the hallway, heading for the staircase. "Hello Remus," she sighed and he could hear her tiredness in her voice. Sure enough, her left eye was ringed by a painful-looking black and blue bruise. Alexis headed up the stairs, walking silently past Mrs. Black's snoring portrait behind black curtains.

"Evening Remus," Marrick smiled but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He glanced back at Tonks who still looked livid and shook his head. "Maybe _you_ can talk to her," he said softly.

"What exactly happened?" Remus asked.

Marrick leaned in closer, his dark brown hair covering parts of his eyes. "Dawlish closed the case involving an Unspeakable's death and went off on some conspiracy theory, bringing trouble to Lexi's department. Tonks wanted to defend Lexi so she got angry and screamed at him in the middle of the office."

"How did Lexi get the black eye?"

"We…tried to hold her back."

Remus nodded, understanding everything and mentally noted to himself to be wary of Tonks's flailing arms when she was angry. "You should go up and speak to Lexi," he told Marrick. "She looks tired. Try to get her to come down for a bit for the Order meeting later. And…I'm sorry for Nymphadora by the way. She was only trying to help I'm sure."

Another smile lit up Marrick's face. "It's all right," he said and headed upstairs.

In the middle of the hallway, Remus saw that Tonks stood in silence, watching him. He looked up at her, his hands stuffed in his trouser pockets so that he doesn't fidget with them. They ended up standing there for several minutes in an unexplainable silence, simply looking at each other. Finally, a surprise twist in their relationship, Remus was the one who made the first move. Without saying a word, he simple held out a hand to her, not breaking eye contact.

She hesitated for a little. Tonks stood back, allowing time for her flaming red hair to shift back to natural, mousy brown. After a few more seconds, she finally approached him, took his warm hand gladly, and sighed into his chest as she embraced him and he wove his arms around her. Remus held on tightly. He wasn't sure how to properly assuage her, but he was certain a hug was the first step to everything positive. He tightened his protective arms just slightly—she'd gotten thinner.

"Tired?" he asked and pulled back just enough so that he could see her face.

Tonks nodded. "A bit," she answered. "Marrick told you?"

Remus nodded that time. "Maybe next time, you can defend Lexi without causing her more pain in the end," he smiled.

A soft laugh came from Tonks. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind." She was quiet again and Remus knew something was on her mind. He had a feeling it has nothing to do with what Tonks had accidentally done to Lexi at all and he wondered what was holding her back.

"Is something on your mind?" he asked.

Tonks pulled back slightly and looked at him. They both had something on their mind and they both knew it. She had the chance to speak to him right there, but Tonks wasn't ready to tread onto such a sensitive topic with Remus just yet. She figured she could speak to him at a much calmer and quieter time, preferably in the middle of the night when they were lying beside each other—Remus wouldn't be able to run away from her and find some excuse to avoid answering her questions. Deciding to put off her question of him and his relations to Greyback's pack later, Tonks shook her head.

"I'm just feeling bad I actually gave Lexi a black eye while trying to help her," she laughed feebly.

"How'd you give her a black eye anyways?"

She held up her elbow and Remus understood. Tonks stayed for a while longer in his arms and lingered in the gentle moment. After another tight embrace and a soft, tender kiss, Tonks finally looked around and realized they seem to be the only one in the hall.

"Where is everybody?"

Remus sighed and that time, he was the one who looked troubled. "Molly's upstairs, probably scolding at Fred and George about something—they'd blown something up again." Tonks laughed but sobered up quickly as Remus continued. "Ron and Ginny are also upstairs, drafting a letter to Harry. Sirius and Silvia," at that point, Remus bit his lips and his troubled look was more obvious than ever. "I almost couldn't hear them anymore. They're in the library…arguing."

"About what?"

"Harry."

Out of curiosity, Tonks and Remus walked quietly over to the door of the library where they could hear Sirius's and Silvia's rising voices emanate through the small crack of the old wooden door. Tonks leaned closer to listen but Remus held her back. "It's rude to eavesdrop," he said. She shook her head and ignored him.

"I'd like to know what's got Sirius and Silvia so strained lately," she whispered.

Unable to help himself, Remus leaned closer as well, hoping that Sirius wouldn't say something hurtful that he definitely did not mean to his beloved wife. "I just hope they stop arguing soon," he said, wishing somehow the tensions would disappear.

"I don't get why we can't just visit the boy for a little bit," Sirius groaned inside. "It's his birthday for goodness sake, Silvia!"

"Dumbledore has specifically ordered us to not see Harry, even on his birthday."

"Forget what Dumbledore ordered!"

"He's trying to think of what's best for us all! If Dumbledore says so…"

"It'll be his fifteenth birthday! I'm already a bad godfather! Why must you make me a horrible one?" Sirius threw his arms in the air. He then paced the room as if in a rampage, looking for something.

"Moody will be guarding him. We can't sway Moody anyways!"

There was suddenly a sound of heavy papers falling against creaky old wood. Sirius had thrown a very heavy and large pile of letters onto the table and stood there pointing to it accusingly with his index finger. "Harry is lonely and upset. We haven't told him anything and we won't! But as his godfather, the least I could do is to visit him on his _birthday_!"

"Sirius, we should listen to Dumbledore," Silvia sighed, massaging her temples. "You're just ill-tempered because you've been trapped at Grimmauld Place for so long."

"That's not why I'm angry!" Sirius's voice boomed. "I'm furious that even after finding out he has a family, Harry can't stay with us! You just don't care," he huffed.

And Silvia was furious at his last words. "You think _I_ don't care? I knew Harry for as long as you have! HELL, I'M AS CLOSE TO HIM AS YOU!"

"JAMES BLOODY POTTER BLOODY MADE ME HIS GODFATHER!"

Tonks stared and Remus's breath hitched. It wasn't normal for Sirius and Silvia to begin screaming at the top of their lungs at one another, throwing in a few uses of profane language here and there. They were really stressed out.

"WHAT THE HELL AM I THEN? HIS NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR?" In her anger, Silvia was even harder to understand as her Spanish accent mixed deeply with her words.

"MRS. FIGG, HIS _NEIGHBOR_, HAS SEEN HIM MORE THAN YOU HAVE!"

Silvia paled and in an airy but still furious voice, said, "I don't want to argue."

However, Sirius seemed fueled by the conflict and didn't back down. Remus sighed. This was like how they were in school—one would back down but the other would step up. "YOU'RE GOING TO PUSH THIS AWAY AND WE'LL NEVER GET ANYTHING SETTLED! I'LL NEVER GET TO SEE HARRY!"

"EVEN IF WE ARGUE, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO SEE HIM ANYWAYS!" Silvia screeched and an expression of pain fell over her face as she gripped the threadbare armchair and bent over, biting her lips and suppressing tears. Her hands were suddenly on her stomach.

All anger lost upon the look of pain on his wife's face, Sirius rushed over to her. "Silvia," he sighed and held onto her as she sat down. "I'm sorry, what-what's hurting?"

She shook her head but it was obvious she was still irritated with him. Silvia thumped Sirius's head and pushed him away but fortunately, he came back again, his arm around her shoulders and he was trying to identify what was hurting her.

"Should we go help?" Remus asked outside the door.

Tonks bit her lips but remembered seeing Silvia grimace the same way once when she felt the baby shifting inside. Minutes later, she was fine again. "I think she'll be all right."

"But…"

"Do you honestly want to interrupt the moment when they'll make up?" she asked, looking up at Remus.

"I guess not," he sighed.

Taking his hand, Tonks led him back into the kitchen. She shook her head and muttered, "Married couples," while Remus sat down beside her and in front of his cold cup of tea.

"Are you certain Silvia will be all right?"

She nodded. "Take it from a woman," she assured him. "Sirius is with her anyways. As long as he's with her, she'll be fine."

Reassured, Remus nodded and began to lace his fingers together with hers. He didn't speak for a while and as his mind shifted away from Sirius and Silvia, another problematic thought came to his awareness. Lately, the name Selene Hawkins had been mentioned too many times to be natural. Wanting to push away his thoughts, Remus looked up at Tonks and again saw the look of heavy thoughts weighing down her mind.

"There's something bothering you, isn't there?"

She was reluctant but in the end, Tonks spoke anyways. "You said you were once in Greyback's pack." He nodded. "Why? You said Greyback bit you. Why did you join his pack? What were you doing there?" Remus had grown darkly silent but Tonks, persistent, continued. "The in-between period…from when James and Lily died up until when we met at Hogwarts, what happened to you?"

A muscle in his jaw jumped. "It's a very long story."

"I've got time." She looked him in the eye, green eyes holding onto blue ones.

For the very first time, Tonks saw a frightening shadow in Remus's eyes. He looked at her with a firm, steady gaze, his teeth clenched and his hands unmoving. Remus shook his head slightly and said, "I-I don't want to talk about it," in a very quiet voice. Before he could say much more, such as elaborate on why he didn't want to talk about it, they were interrupted by the sound of the Order staggering through the narrow hallway and into the kitchen, just in time for the start of the meeting.

Tonks huffed at the lousy timing of these Order members. "This isn't over," she whispered to him just as Mad-Eye Moody, large and battle worn but scary-looking nonetheless, clonked in. There was a strong determination burning in her tone of voice.

The long and narrow kitchen of Grimmauld Place was quickly filled as more members of the Order filled the chairs around the dining table. Sirius and Silvia entered, looking better than they had been in the library. Sirius helped Silvia into her chair, her cheeks showing traces of pink and she was no longer pale anymore. Kreacher was ordered out of the kitchen by Alexis who had just come down with Marrick. It was still more than obvious that Kreacher despises Sirius and listens better to Alexis, a branch still on the Black family tree. Finally, when all the members were seated and Dumbledore arrived at last, the meeting began.

Remus had noticed the absence of Severus Snape and could only guess that Snape was busy elsewhere with his work as spy for the Order in Voldemort's inner circle of Death Eaters. The discussion began and everyone's favorite topic that night seemed to be the violence and crimes caused by werewolves. Someone always had something to say and soon, for Remus, the meeting began to drag out. People began to speak to him for answers or reasons and, out of cordiality; Remus was forced to reply, much to his displeasure. He'd grown so weary at the mentioning of werewolves that the entire time, Remus didn't even notice Tonks was beside him, her hand over his and her knee rubbing against his leg, trying to assuage him.

"But everyone is fearful now!" Elphias Doge stressed.

"Dolores Umbridge is in the process of drafting yet another anti-werewolf legislation," Kingsley informed them grimly and swiftly glanced at Remus.

"Umbitch is a fucking toad!" Tonks, in her anger, spoke loudly.

"_Tonks_, language!" Molly scolded just as Tonks fearlessly glared back at the pointed gazes older members of the Order gave her for her impudence.

"I agree with Tonks though," Bill chimed in, defending her, while Remus was struck with stone-like silence. "Umbridge is just a shameless hypocrite."

The discussion continued on endlessly. Remus's eyes flickered to the window and saw that outside, the night was still young. He sighed inwardly and continued to listen, trying his hardest not to show any reaction as people continued discussing about werewolves and _him_.

Finally, when it seemed Remus couldn't take much more of it, Dumbledore began to end that night's lively discussion. He assigned new roles for guard duty and before finishing what he was going to say about a second guard duty, Dumbledore turned to Sirius and Silvia specifically. As if all-knowing, he comforted them about their feelings of not being able to communicate much of anything with Harry. It was then that Dumbledore finally shared the piece of information he'd been holding back.

"I suspect that there may be a connection between Harry and the Dark Lord. That night when Lily and James Potter were killed, Voldemort had tried to kill Harry as well but managed to do nothing to the boy but inflict the scar upon his head. There may be something more to that night, something we're missing." He looked grim and the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes was gone. "In order to keep Harry safe, we must make sure Voldemort doesn't discover or rely on this connection. We must be careful not to tempt him." His voice was soft and he looked directly at Sirius who was incredibly troubled, holding tightly onto his wife's bony hand. "To allow Harry to have more access to information about the Order only serves to tempt Voldemort to try to control or manipulate him. I don't think you would want Harry subjected to that, do you, Sirius?" Dumbledore glanced over his spectacles at the raven-haired man.

Sirius shook his head and quietly said, "What else do you know? You still haven't told us what Snape wrote to you in that scroll of information."

The wizened headmaster released an exasperated sigh. That time, his penetrating gaze shifted to another member of the Black family, Alexis. "Voldemort is looking for something, something that would aid him in this war. By what we've seen of the Unspeakables being murdered, I am certain that what he wants is located in the Department of Mysteries."

Alexis visibly tensed. The mask of indifference she had on had been perfected so well. Remus doubted even Dumbledore could see the worry that was strangling her on the inside.

"What is it that he wants, Albus?" Moody questioned, uninformed as they were.

It was quite obvious that Dumbledore was hesitant on sharing the information. He glanced at Alexis once again before saying, "Voldemort is after the Prophecy that he and Harry Potter shares which currently resides within the Department of Mysteries. With this Prophecy, Voldemort may learn of a secret that would be beneficial to him to most definitely not to us. I want to protect this Prophecy at all cost. After discussing with Alexis about this, I plan to organize another set of guard duty to protect this Prophecy."

Following the information Dumbledore had just disclosed, another discussion broke out between the members. Unfortunately for Alexis, that time they were badgering _her_ with endless questions. Remus was staring at the wooden table, trying not to look up and reveal to everyone, especially Tonks the dark look in his eyes. Beside him, Tonks had given up trying to calm him down—she would speak to him after the meeting. At the time, Tonks was staring at her cousin and for the very first time, noticed that Alexis really _was_ having a hard time saying several things. She thought it odd. Alexis had always been quite comfortable revealing secrets of the Department of Mysteries before. She'd even managed to find a way around the Confidant Charm that all Unspeakables were bound by.

The end of the meeting finally came and as one last piece of news, Dumbledore assigned Mundungus Fletcher who'd been asleep and snoring loudly in a corner to guard Harry for the next shift. Sirius was unhappy but didn't have time to voice his thoughts when people began leaving their seats and Molly started setting the table for dinner while Bill and Arthur cleared away the scrolls of information they'd looked over that night.

"I like Dung," Sirius told Silvia and Tonks and Remus as well. "I really do. He knows things that can be pretty useful. But I don't trust the bloke to look after Harry."

She allowed Sirius private time with his wife to talk more about their insecurities of letting Mundungus guard Harry. Tonks took Remus's hand and pulled him up to his feet. She needed a word. They were on their way out of the kitchen when Tonks heard Dumbledore who had lingered behind, ask Alexis for a private word.

"Alexis, we need to speak," he said and his voice was serious.

By no surprise, Tonks's curiosity had gotten the better of her and she leaned closer to the living room door to listen to Alexis and Dumbledore's conversation. They were speaking quietly but the tension was very evident. Without seeing them, Tonks could still hear them and how Alexis seemed to be speaking through clenched teeth.

"Alexis," Dumbledore said, sounding extremely tired. "We are both intelligent people and by now you must have already figured out what is in that Prophecy that Voldemort wants so badly. We _need_ to protect it. It's in your department—"

"Professor, there are still lines that I cannot cross," Alexis cut him off. "These secrets are protected by ancient magic even _you_ can't break. I'm sure you know that. You're asking me to do the impossible, sir." Alexis was adamant in her refusal to help him.

"But _you_ can find a way around it—"

"It's rude to eavesdrop you know," Remus said and suddenly pulled Tonks back so that she couldn't hear the conversation on the other side of the door anymore.

She looked at him and was happy he'd done some thinking and no longer looked like he was about to snap the neck of the next person who said the word _werewolf_. Tonks paused. It was a weird thought—Remus would never snap anyone's neck. Even though he's fully capable, his heart wouldn't allow it. She smiled at him but was still rather annoyed that he'd stopped her from listening in on Dumbledore and Alexis.

"Git," she said.

He didn't smile but he shrugged. That was an improvement from a tightened fist and clenched teeth. "Do you want to have dinner?"

"Yes, but tell me about the in-between period," she said, determined in her desire to learn more about Remus Lupin.

His eyes fell to the floor and Remus clenched his jaw again. While his hands were stuffed inside the pockets of his trousers, Tonks could still see him ball up his fist. She decided that perhaps it would be wise of her to go at it at a slower pace. Gently, she placed a hand upon his back and headed to the kitchen with him.

"We'll talk about it later," she said softly. "But don't delude yourself into thinking that I'm going to let it go."

* * *

The buzzing of the fan was slightly distracting but to have it turned off and allow the pulsing heat to drown the room would be even more of a distraction. Remus sat in the library, his clothes and hair disheveled and moist after a shower. His eyes moved back and forth over the pages of a book titled _Hairy Snout, Human Heart_. Halfway through the book, he wondered how he'd managed to find it in the Black family library, but he couldn't detach himself long enough from the pages to get up and question Sirius why.

Many times throughout that day, Remus would sense a strong connection and hopeful feeling of understanding as he read that book. It illustrated one man's struggle with lycanthropy and Remus had no trouble imagining himself as the main character. It was peculiar as Remus, self-conscious and quiet as he is, could never imagine himself as any of the main characters in all the books that he'd read—_except maybe Mr. Rochester in the muggle classic, Jane Eyre._

His tranquil and wordy escape into the mind of Rigel Lockwood was interrupted when the door to the library burst open. Remus looked up over the top of his book to see Sirius enter, a half empty bottle of brandy in one hand while his other hand threw a squealing Kreacher down the hall and then shut the door.

"Why is everyone so bloody annoying?" he groaned and dropped down in the armchair.

"Good evening to you too," said Remus placidly. "What's wrong?"

"Argument," Sirius grunted.

Remus shifted to the edge of his seat, closed his book, and set it gently down beside him. His eyes were on his best friend and with one last, reluctant tug he pulled his mind away from _Hairy Snout, Human Heart_, and focused on his best friend sitting in front of him. Abandoning a wordy escapade and returning to reality was the hardest thing for any bookworm to do.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Remus asked gently.

As expected, Sirius shook his head. Remus knew him too well and foresaw that the next thing Sirius would try to do is question Remus about his problems and turn the focus away from himself. "Where's Tonksie? I expected you two lovebirds would be together."

Smiling, Remus shook his head. "She said it's too distracting trying to work in the same room as me. Nymphadora's upstairs, finishing some paperwork for work."

"And what are _you_ doing? Wait," Sirius paused. They were in a library after all and if Remus Lupin wasn't reading, the world would might as well collapse or go out of whack. "What's your book about? Interesting?"

Deciding to humor his friend for a bit, Remus nodded. "Very; _Hairy Snout, Human Heart_, it's a book about a heartrending account of a man and his struggles with lycanthropy."

Sirius scoffed. "Don't tell me you found that in _my_ family home. It's probably just some inaccurate load of bollocks—"

"No, it's actually impeccably accurate and mentally encouraging for werewolves in similar situations." A wistful smile appeared on his face. "All right," he said suddenly. "I've amused you. Now get up, let's go."

"Go where?" Sirius was confused.

"Padfoot you dolt, go talk to your wife!"

"She's mad at me. I'm not bloody going anywhere."

Remus sighed. "Don't you think you've been rather short with her lately? Silvia cares for Harry just as much as you do. She _knows_ about fighting Voldemort just as much as you do. She _understands_. Just talk to her."

Sweeping his fringe of raven black hair to the side as Remus led him out of the library, Sirius groaned under his breath and headed into the kitchen. Remus hung back, knowing Silvia was in there alone and decided to give the couple their privacy. He saw Silvia at the kitchen table preparing a fresh vase of daisies, smiling gently as she did so.

In the hall, Remus headed down to the living room, looking for something else to do in that eerily quiet night. The whole evening, he hadn't heard a bird sing once. Even at Grimmauld Place, they had birds that hung around the windows where Alexis had placed bird feeders and the residents had grown used to the presence of songbirds. Their absence was noticed and taken as sort of a dark harbinger. Remus shook his head. He was thinking too much.

Entering the living room, Remus had walked in on a rather rowdy gathering of people and many conversations. He was immediately tackled into a hug and saw a blur of familiar, bushy brown hair.

"Professor Lupin!" Hermione gasped.

A smile appeared on his lips and Remus hugged her back briefly before pulling apart. He hadn't noticed Hermione's arrival while he was reading. "Hello Hermione," he greeted happily.

"It's so good to see you!" She beamed and even Remus had to admit her fondness for him was bursting through her seams and he felt flattered. It was good to know there are people—although tiny the number may be—who didn't look at him with a contemptuous gaze.

"Is everyone gathered in here tonight?" he asked Molly who beckoned him over to join them around the glass coffee table.

"Molly's going to clean the drawing room soon so the kids will have more space to hang around," Arthur answered, smiling warmly.

"I don't know how long that'll take though," Bill voiced. "That room looks dangerous."

Remus laughed and decided to sit down for a moment. He noticed Molly warmly scolding Alexis and Marrick about something. The couple was silent and blushing profusely. Whatever the conversation was about, Remus felt it must be very interesting as even Fred and George were quiet and listening. Fred was having an insanely difficult time trying not to laugh while George looked rather tense. Remus thought the twins were acting strange.

"What's Molly talking to Lexi and Marrick about?" Remus asked the majority.

Ron who had been sitting behind Fred and George beside Ginny and Hermione, snorted in an attempt to hold back his laughter while Alexis and Marrick continued to blush crimson.

"Mum's trying to get either Lexi or Marrick to get a new wand," Ginny answered him.

"Why?" Remus asked but then decided to get his answer by listening.

"Lexi, dear, listen to me," Molly sighed. "Either you or Marrick have to get a new wand. You just _have_ to! Your wand is holly and his is oak!"

"I don't see what the problem is," said Alexis in an attempt not to sound rude or to laugh.

Molly sighed. "Haven't you heard the saying; _when his is oak and hers is holly, then to marry would be folly_? It's bad luck if you use those wands and want to be together!"

"By Merlin's baggy Y-fronts, mum. You're thinking about marriage for them already?" George asked; his expression unreadable.

Watching them, Remus noticed Alexis exchange a gentle, soft, almost ardent glance with George that lingered for quite a while although unnoticed by most people in the room. He wondered just exactly how deep their friendship had become over the time spent together in the summer. Remus turned and saw that Bill had noticed too but like him, kept quiet and turned back to Molly who continued to stress.

"I'm used to this wand, Molly," said Marrick. "And Lexi's wand is her father's. We can't just get a new one."

"Come on Marrick, don't you want to marry Lexi?" Molly asked and Marrick went mute.

Fred was rolling on the floor laughing. "Way to make it extremely awkward for them, mum!" he hollered.

"The best thing to throw into a casual relationship: talk about marriage," Ginny sighed.

He sat for a while longer, listening and smiling to the perpetual teasing and jokes made about relationships. When the conversation died out with Alexis saying she needed to talk to George about a certain practical joke gone wrong of his, all others in the room scattered and went into their own discussions in smaller groups. Remus slipped out of the living room quietly and headed up the creaky wooden staircase. Along the way, he saw Alexis and George laughing together as they stood leaning on the wooden banister.

"But you just basically fled the scene!" George laughed. "That's not nice."

"Hey, I love the bloke with all my heart but talking about marriage absolutely horrifies me," Alexis replied in a poor attempt at being cold and icy. She ended up smiling.

"You love him," said George in a softer voice but Remus could still hear him while ascending the stairs. "Is that why you wear that necklace? I remember you said that that cork was from the first bottle of firewhiskey you ever drank and incidentally shared with Marrick."

"Yeah, and then ended up shagging," she laughed.

"Wow, unexpected," George laughed. "Glad you're comfortable telling me though."

"Yeah but how'd you notice the necklace?" Alexis questioned, narrowing her eyes at him although still smiling. "You weren't looking at my chest, were you?"

George immediately went red. His ears glowed and his face looked like a ripe tomato. "Uh, n-no," he stuttered. "Of course not!"

"George Fabian Weasley, you little wanker!" She covered her mouth, laughing. When they spotted Remus, Alexis and George showed no stop to their conversation but simply made room for him to get past. "Sorry Remus, for blocking the stairs," she said through her laughter.

Heading up to the second landing, Remus could no longer hear Alexis's and George's conversation. He shook his head and marveled at how they've grown so comfortable with each other in their friendship.

"Ouch!" It was surprising how Remus hadn't seen Tonks coming down the stairs. She'd ran into him and if she hadn't covered her mouth with her hands in time, her stream of curses would have no doubt woken up Walburga Black's screaming portrait. "Wotcher Remus," she smiled after sighing at him.

He smiled. "Hello Nymphadora," said Remus in a voice like velvet.

She grinned and leaned back on the balustrade, talking to him right then and there on the staircase. Remus glanced down and he couldn't see Alexis and George. Assured that it was only he and Tonks now, he leaned back on the wall opposite of her, crossed his arms, and looked at her with amusement in his eyes. He couldn't quite explain why he was amused. He simply was, watching Tonks, watching him.

"Were you heading upstairs?" she asked.

Remus nodded. "To see you."

"What for?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I wanted to talk, I guess." Suddenly, Remus felt it was a mistake as he remembered how Tonks had been persistent about learning of the in-between period he still hadn't told her much about.

"All right, talk."

"About what?" He decided to feign innocence. "There are a million things to—"

"Oh come on, Lupin," Tonks groaned. So he was _Lupin_ now, not Remus. "You tell me great details about everything else. Why can't you tell me? About what happened before I met you, after the first war ended?" She wasn't joking around with him anymore. Tonks really wanted to know and she was frustrated he wouldn't even tell her just a little bit.

In truth, Remus really wanted to tell her. Nymphadora Tonks understood him, didn't judge him, and he always found it rather comforting—although he never says it—that she forgets he's a werewolf sometimes. But he just couldn't tell her. To him, it would risk everything they had. "I-I just can't," he said softly.

"Why not?" Tonks was tenacious on her need for an answer.

Remus shook his head and looked down at his feet while Tonks still leaned back on the wooden railing across from him. "Dora, I can't," he said again in an even weaker voice.

All jokes and teases were gone. They both shifted quickly into a serious state of mind and Tonks looked at him with tender eyes. "Why can't you?" she asked softly.

"Because…" He bit his lips. "Because I was a monster," Remus blurted out and continued to stammer on forward, uncontrollably. "I was a monster and I had no one to blame but myself. Everything I did was of my own accord, Nymphadora. You may think that I am safer and not as dangerous as other werewolves but the truth is: werewolves are still werewolves!" He'd raised his voice, something he didn't mean to do and something Tonks didn't quite expect. "Beasts will be beats, _Nymphadora_!" Something inside of him wanted to break out, and Remus's harsh breathing was more than a tell-tale sign.

"Bloody hell," Tonks breathed. On normal circumstances, Remus would have laughed at her reaction. Normal people, normal women, would have said 'oh my god'. But no, Nymphadora Tonks said 'bloody hell', and Remus wouldn't change her for the world. She pushed herself off the balustrade and reached for him.

The warmth of her fingertips on his cheek stung him but it was the most pleasant sensation he'd ever felt. He looked at her with a gaze so deep she felt like he could see into her mind. Remus was a man, aged and withered but still young nonetheless. He knew pain and suffering and had seen himself at his worse. Tonks wasn't quite sure what she'd find out if she pressed on with asking him about his _in-between_ period, but as stubborn as she was and always will be; she was going to press on anyways.

"Remus," she said softly. "It was a difficult time." He nodded against her hand. Tonks bit her lips, wondering what to say. She was never good at saying the right thing. "But you know…we're approaching another war." That wasn't a good thing to say at all. She felt Remus tense against her palm—he'd clenched his jaw again. Recklessly, Tonks plowed on. "Wouldn't it be better to let go of the baggage from the last one?" She was proud of herself. That seemed like something right to say.

In her eyes, two sparkling pool of luminescent emeralds, Remus could see it all. He could see the wonder and love and adoration she had for him and even the way her thoughts processed as she tried to find the right, comforting words to say. His lips parted just barely and he was about to say something, something he himself didn't even know, but they were interrupted.

Footsteps sounded hard against the wooden floor and they looked down to see Mundungus Fletcher, squat and bandy-legged with an unshaven face and bloodshot eyes, barge in through the front door while Sirius, Silvia, and the others came out to see him, gathering in the crowded hallway. In all their noise, they'd woken up Walburga Black. "MUDBLOODS, TRAITORS, SCUMS, WEREWOLVES AND HALF-BREEDS, TAINTING THE NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK! KREACHER! GET THEM ALL OUT OF HERE!" Her screeching voice and scathing insults, however, were drowned out.

"Dung, what happened?" Silvia demanded while Sirius paled.

"It's Harry!" he breathed. "Boy's been attacked by bleedin' dementors! I'm sorry Siri—"

_THUD!_

Before Mundungus could finish his lame apology, Sirius had grabbed him by his collar and slammed him up against the wall. Silvia pulled him back while Molly gasped, "Sirius!" The kids were grim and Remus's and Tonks's thudding footsteps sounded as they pushed aside their conversation to make their way downstairs.

"What did you say you bloody git?" Sirius's voice was rising. He'd heard Mundungus the first time but he was in partial denial. "WHAT DID YOU LET HAPPEN TO MY GODSON?"

Remus helped Silvia pull him back and he held Sirius's arms tightly, preventing him from punching Mundungus in the face. "Sirius!" he grunted. "Calm down!"

Tonks grabbed Mundungus by his collar, almost mirroring her cousin. She pulled him towards her and Alexis who took his wand and held it against him. Tonks's voice was strained. "Dung, what did you let happen?"

He flailed under her hold and managed to choke out, "Dementors, in Little Whinging!"

* * *

Also, in case you're wondering, the slight reference to Remus's book, Hairy Snout Human Heart is mentioned in J.K. Rowling's The Tales of Beadle the Bard. It's quite a good read.


	5. If I Had A Backward Clock

**Author's Note:**

****Hello! Sorry I don't update so frequently anymore, I blame school...and admittedly also Tumblr haha xD Anyways, thank you to those who have pulled through with me this long, you don't know how much I appreciate your support and just absolutely adore you! For anyone reading this anyways, I am very grateful, thank you! Also, I know my chapters are extremely long and I should probably split them, but that would bother me to no ends because of my partial-OCD so I apologize for the ridiculously long chapters. Anyways, I hope this update is somewhat worth your wait. I hope you enjoy! And as the holiday season is soon upon us, have a wonderful season! Thank you! With love, Wordy and Restless. 3

* * *

**Chapter 05 – If I Had a Backward Clock**

Remus tightened his grip on Sirius and just in time because Sirius had pushed himself away from the wall to launch for a second time at Mundungus. "Sirius!" Remus nearly growled as he yanked his best friend back.

"Remus, let go of me!" Sirius growled, swinging his fist inches away from Mundungus.

"Sirius," Silvia sighed, placing a hand on her husband's arm. Sirius turned back to look at her, his anger diminished into a mixture of fear and worry. She continued, speaking in a soft and gentle voice that was laced with her rich, Spanish accent. "Harry will be all right."

Leaving Sirius to Silvia, Remus pulled away and found Arthur standing beside Tonks now. "Arthur," he said. "Can you go to the Ministry and see what's going on? Dementors shouldn't be anywhere near Little Whinging."

Arthur nodded and sprinted for the front door, maneuvering his way around the clutter of people in the narrow hallway. "I'll send word back," he called. "And I'll send a letter to Harry."

Silvia pulled a tensed and angst-filled Sirius back into the kitchen while Remus found Alexis and Marrick and said, "Inform Alastor and Kingsley."

"Molly, we should send word to Dumbledore," said Tonks who was halfway up the stairs trying to yank the curtains of Mrs. Black shut and put a stop to her screeching.

Molly glanced at Remus who nodded and turned on her heels into the kitchen. In her wake were the kids who were ordered upstairs by her authoritative voice. They shuffled around Remus and marched up the stairs albeit unwillingly, especially Ron and Hermione who were dying to know if Harry was all right. Remus placed a firm hand on their shoulders in silent reassurance then sent them on their way to their bedrooms. He was heading up the wooden staircase himself, helping Tonks who was struggling with Mrs. Black's curtains while the woman glared malevolently at Tonks's hair that had changed from pink to flaming red.

"Freak! You shape-shifting half-breed," Mrs. Black spat at Tonks.

"Bloody hell, shut—up—woman!" Tonks growled at her great aunt.

"Here, let me," Remus sighed, taking the black curtains from her hands and with stupendous effort, he managed to yank the curtains closed again. Sighing, Remus leaned back on the banister beside Tonks, appreciating the lack of screaming in the house.

"That was a dramatic interruption," Tonks sighed, taking off her jacket in the heat.

Remus knew what she was talking about. Before they were interrupted by Mundungus and the screaming of Walburga Black, they'd both been standing upon the staircase, talking about a part of Remus's history he was afraid to share with her. Tonks shifted to stand across from him, her arms folded across her chest, and she was looking at him with penetrating eyes.

He sighed. "Dora, can't you just let it go?" he asked softly.

She shook her head. "Don't kid yourself Remus."

His blue eyes avoided her green ones. Remus glanced down to the hallway leading into the kitchen. He then looked back up at Tonks and hoped to dismiss her tenacious desire.

"Now's not a good time to discuss it," he said.

"When will it _ever_ be a good time?" she retorted. "It's _never_ a good time with you."

Strangely, Remus steeled his gaze and Tonks silenced. "Dora, we need to handle Harry's problem first." She didn't respond and he took her hand, leading her downstairs to the kitchen.

Silvia approached them first, leaving Sirius alone as he glowered at her vase of daisies as if it was Mundungus and it had offended him. "Dung's in the sitting room with Lexi and Marrick questioning him about the incident," she said.

Molly turned back from the window gripping a letter in her hand. "Arthur just wrote from the Ministry. He said Dumbledore's been informed by Mrs. Figg and he's convinced the Wizengamot to give Harry a trial."

"A trial?" Tonks asked, surprised. "For a simple case of underage magic?"

"They wanted to expel him," she replied, tears gathering in her eyes. "Arthur said Mafalda Hopkirk sent a letter to Harry informing him of his expulsion. Arthur is sending him another letter telling him not to hand over his wand if anyone from the Ministry comes by."

"Oh the Ministry really pisses me off sometimes," Tonks huffed.

"Ah!" Molly shrieked as the glass vase containing Silvia's daisies exploded.

Remus immediately knew Sirius was the culprit. For one moment, he'd been unable to control his own magic. "Sorry," Sirius grumbled through clenched teeth and Remus placed a firm hand on his shoulder. Molly was hurrying to clean up the broken glass while Silvia and Tonks continued looking over Arthur's letter, completely unfazed by the small explosion.

From the hallway, Mad-Eye Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt shuffled in. Kingsley had tripped over the toll-leg umbrella stand, making the same mistake Tonks always did as he tried to squeeze his way past Mad-Eye who took up most of the doorway. He was staggering back up to his feet while Mad-Eye said, "Albus wants us to move Potter here," in his gruff voice.

"What?" Remus asked. "I thought the safest place for Harry is at Privet Drive."

"Obviously not anymore," Moody grunted. "We're bringing him here."

* * *

Exhausted was a light way of describing how he felt at the moment. Sirius rubbed his sleepy eyes and pushed his black fringe to the side as he entered his bedroom and closed the door quietly behind him. It was strange; through the velvet curtains, the morning sun was shining.

"Silv," he called softly to the figure of his wife lying on their bed, her back facing him.

She didn't move but he knew that she was still awake. She couldn't sleep on her side. He approached her slowly while using nonverbal magic, casted the curtains closed and turned off the lights. They were in darkness now and he saw her shift slightly where she laid.

"Silv," he called again, in an even softer voice as he lay down upon the bed, slipped his feet under their blanket, and held her.

"Did you send Hedwig back to Harry?" she asked. Silvia had went upstairs just as Hedwig came swooping through their window bearing three letters from Harry, addressed to Sirius, Ron, and Hermione, all with the same exact message.

Sirius shook his head although Silvia didn't turn to face him and couldn't see. "Molly said we should keep Hedwig since we're bringing Harry over in a few days." She nodded slightly then shifted again and pulled the blanket closer to her neck. Sirius sighed as he propped himself up on his elbow and looked at her. "What did I say wrong?"

"You didn't say anything wrong. I'm just tired. I want to sleep."

"You and I both know it's impossible for you to fall asleep on your side."

In response, Silvia turned to face him. She laid on her back while he shifted so that her head was right beside his and he looked at her with warm eyes. For a moment, Silvia looked like she was still angry at him, but that steely edge in her gaze quickly vanished when light brown eyes met haunted grey ones. Sirius smiled.

"If I said anything to hurt you, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry." He scratched the back of his head. "You know I can't control what I blurt out when I'm angry."

"I know," she said in almost a whisper. "We've been arguing a lot lately." She was playing with the buttons of his shirt, taking them apart one by one. As her fingertips grazed the skin on his chest, Sirius felt himself becoming warmer. Her touch was so pleasant. "If I stop picking out every little thing you do, will you stop acting so recklessly?" she asked.

"I'll admit…slamming Dung up against the wall wasn't something I should do." He caressed her cheek and placed his forehead on hers. "I'll try to be less reckless. I'll _try_."

She smiled and Sirius mirrored her. He placed a kiss against her smiling lips. Like always, Sirius could never kiss his wife once so he kissed her again, and again. Every time they were close, a euphoric feeling would consume him and Sirius felt like he was right inside paradise. He smiled against her lips and breathed slowly; inhaling her sweet scent of the perfume he'd bought her the last time they went to Diagon Alley.

"What would I be without you?" he asked gently, smiling down at her.

"You'd be grumpy and wandering the halls in a drunken stupor," she teased.

"Now that's just depressing." Sirius sat up to take his shirt off—he didn't like sleeping with it on when he could hold his wife so close against his skin. He was close to her again within seconds, holding her and holding their child still inside her belly. "I'll still have Remus."

"Remus will be busy with Tonks."

"I nearly forgot." He smiled but it fell quickly. "They seem a little tense lately."

"I heard Lexi say that Tonks is trying to get Remus to tell her what happened to him after the first war ended and before they met after you escaped Azkaban. Remus seems like he desperately doesn't want to tell her."

"Ah, so the perfect couple has their vices too. Now I don't feel so bad."

"Every rose has its thorn, Sirius."

"I just hope their little problem won't interfere with them getting Harry here safely."

Silvia shook her head. "Remus won't let it." Sirius was about to say something but she continued, "And Tonks is actually very good at keeping focus on a mission."

He smiled and confessed, "I'm actually really excited for Harry to come. Maybe then he can help us settle on a name for the little boy." A soft laugh escaped his lips.

"I was actually thinking we could name the little boy Lucas," Silvia suggested with a wistful smile. "You know, instead of Sirius Jr."

In his mind, Sirius had secretly been rooting for Sirius Jr., but Lucas sounded like a much better option. "Lucas…after your little brother, am I right?"

She nodded and the wistful smile remained. Silvia's little brother Lucas had been killed along with her parents in the first war. She never liked talking about it. "Yeah…it means light."

"Then we'll call him Lucas," Sirius grinned, giving honor to the little brother he knew always made Silvia smile when Sirius pissed her off back in school. "Lucas Black. Err, now we need a middle name…which is equally as difficult to decide on."

Silvia giggled and shifted closer to him. Her warm breath grazed against the nape of his neck as she said, "Let's just wait until Harry gets here and ask for his opinion. As for right now, I'm knackered. Can we go to sleep?"

"Of course," he said. Sirius honestly didn't know why he liked to argue with her so much. Silvia was just as pleasant and heavenly when she was calm. He laid down and held her close against him, her soft skin against his own. Her belly was getting bigger and his heart swelled with anticipation for when his son would come to this world.

* * *

It was a clear night. Dark grey clouds rolled lazily against the star-strewn night sky. Several faint _pops_ were heard consecutively in a sort of synchronized pattern. In the backyard of number four, Privet Drive, shrouded in the shadows of trees and neighboring houses, a group of wizards appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

"The car's gone," Alexis said, coming down to a gentle stop on her gleaming black broomstick. "The Dursleys just left. I suggest we go in now."

"Inside," Mad-Eye Moody grunted quietly—he'd already unlocked the back door to the kitchen. "Lexi, Marrick, you and a few others go up and patrol. You're the Rear guards, remember that. The Advance guards," he looked around to see Tonks and Remus and a few others, "follow me. We'll get Harry, pack up his things," Moody then turned back to Marrick. "Then we'll wait for your signal. Follow auror protocol if anything goes wrong."

"Yes, sir," Marrick nodded and mounted his broomstick, gesturing for his girlfriend and the rest of the Rear guards to do the same. In silence, they ascended back into the night.

"The rest of you, inside, _now_," he grunted.

_CRASH!_

"Tonks, for god's sake," Moody grumbled as he closed the back door behind him.

"I can't see in the dark," she said.

"Dora, you all right?" Remus asked her.

"We'll worry about Tonks's clumsiness later. We need to find Potter," Moody cut in.

"Mad-Eye, you gruff bastard," Tonks muttered under her breath, causing Remus to smile lightly. "And _you_, stop grinning," she hissed at him and he smiled.

In silence, they made their way through the pristine and clinically clean living room. In the darkness, they found their way to the stairs. On the top of the stairs, they could see the figure of a boy, silhouetted against the streetlight glowing through the glass door. Tonks grinned and Remus smiled. They knew Harry so well; they could tell it was him just by his shadowy outline.

"Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out," said Moody's growled.

Harry didn't lower his wand but Tonks didn't take it as a threat. "Professor Moody?"

"It's all right, Harry. We've come to take you away," said Remus.

Tonks thought that sounded rather fairy-tale-ish. She smiled at Remus then stepped forward, tripping over something she couldn't see in the darkness. "Bloody hell," she said under her breath. "Why are we all standing in the dark? _Lumos._" Her wand tip flared and within a matter of seconds, Harry positively beamed at them and ran downstairs. "Wotcher, Harry!"

"Hello Harry," Kingsley smiled, having met Harry before. "Long time no see, eh?"

"He looks just like James," said Elphias.

Hestia chimed in. "Except the eyes, Lily's eyes." She then started to stare at his scar.

Watching her, Tonks was annoyed at the way Hestia was standing so close to Remus. She knew the woman would volunteer if Remus was on the mission as well and Tonks had refrained from saying anything, but Hestia was growing to annoy her. Funny, Tonks thought—she didn't dislike someone right when she met them, but Hestia Jones was one, fat, whopping exception.

When Tonks returned to reality, she realized that Mad-Eye had just confirmed that the boy really was Harry. She wondered how much more paranoid her old mentor could get. Just then, when she thought Mad-Eye couldn't get any weirder, he roared, "Don't put your wand there, boy! What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!"

Remus looked at Tonks and she shrugged. "Who'd you know who's lost a buttock?"

The introductions began. When Remus got to Tonks, he paused and Harry smiled.

Tonks sighed. "Do we have to do this again? Don't—_ever_—call me Nymphadora."

"I honestly don't get why you dislike that name," said Remus, trying to distract her from questioning him about parts of his past he was too ashamed to tell her about.

She didn't take the bait but he didn't expect her too. Instead, Tonks met his eyes and in their silent gaze, she'd communicated enough with him. She then turned back to Harry and muttered, "You'd hate that name too if you had Andromeda for a mother."

"Don't worry, I won't call you _Nymphadora_." She narrowed her eyes on him but Harry continued, "Where are Sirius and Silvia?"

"They're back at headquarters," Remus answered. "Silvia's too far in her pregnancy for this and Sirius decided to stay with her."

As they were updating Harry quickly, Moody was complaining about his magical eye stuck in its socket, pointing up at the ceiling. "_Damn it_." He popped out his eye and made nasty squelching sound much like a plunger being pulled from a sink. Walking around comfortably as if it was his own house, Moody got himself a glass of water and dropped the eye into it.

Tonks gagged. "Mad-Eye, you know that's disgusting, don't you?"

Remus placed his hands on her shoulders, gesturing for her to leave Moody alone. Moody then ordered Harry upstairs to pack his trunk. Tonks offered to help him, knowing that Harry would feel awkward with anyone else.

"Very _clean_, aren't they, these muggles? You know, my dad's a right old slob and he's muggle-born. I suppose it varies, just like wizards?"

"I don't think Ted's _that_ messy," Harry smiled. "Then again, Andromeda loves to clean."

"Yes, but it's unnatural—oh, this is better," she laughed upon entering Harry's bedroom. Harry went to turn on the lights. His bedroom had been messier than she'd expected.

"How come no one's told me anything?" Harry asked, tossing books into his open trunk.

She looked at him through the reflection of the mirror. "I don't think I'm supposed to tell you," she said softly. "Ask Sirius, he'll be glad to. But…try not to question too much. He and Silv had been arguing all summer over what to say. Dumbledore's told us not to say much."

The lanky boy nodded and returned to his packing although he seemed unsatisfied with her response. Between them, the silence grew and Tonks felt uncomfortable within it.

"Violet seems a bit peaky," she said, making a face. With ease, Tonks closed her eyes and morphed her hair into bubblegum pink, her preferred color. "There we go."

"You know, I've always been jealous of that," Harry confessed, smiling a little.

"Bet it'd be nice to hide that scar, right?" she asked. "I saw you getting uncomfortable when Hestia was staring at it. Don't worry, I don't like Hestia either."

Harry's smile widened slightly and he walked past her to grab Hedwig's cage.

"Oh bugger," she laughed. "I'm supposed to help you pack, sorry." Tonks waved her wand once in a long, sweeping motion over the floor. Books, clothes, telescope, and scales all soared into the air and flew pell-mell into the trunk. "It's not very neat," she said, looking down at the jumble inside. "Andromeda and Lexi had always been better at these kinds of things." She frowned then slammed his trunk closed. "I'm ashamed to admit I'm related to two clean-freaks," she sighed. "Now come on, grab your broom, we're getting you out of here by that."

"Oh, right," he said and quickly grabbed his Firebolt sitting in the corner.

"You know, I've always been jealous of _that_," said Tonks, not bothering to hide her envy as she pointed to Harry's broomstick; the one Sirius had gotten him. "And I'm still riding a Comet Two Sixty—curse you minimum auror wage!" Harry laughed and she continued, levitating his trunk into the air and heading downstairs. "_Locomotor Trunk_. Wand still in your jeans? Both buttocks still on? Okay, let's go."

Returning to the kitchen, Tonks noticed that everyone was picking up their broomsticks. Moody had replaced his eye and it was spinning rapidly in its socket—Tonks felt queasy looking at it. Remus got up from the seat he'd taken on the kitchen counter and smiled at them.

"Excellent," he said. "We've got about a minute, I think. We should probably get out into the garden so we're ready. Harry, I've left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry—"

"They won't," said Harry.

"That you're safe—"

"That'll just depress them."

Tonks wanted to laugh but Remus continued, "And you'll see then next summer."

"Do I have to?"

After Marrick sent a second flare of bright red sparks into the sky and another reassuring speech from Mad-Eye, in which he tried to warn them that they might die, they finally got into the air with Harry disillusioned and positioned right behind Tonks in the formation.

"Hard left, hard left, there's a muggle looking up!" shouted Moody from behind. Tonks rolled her eyes. "I saw that!" Moody shouted, that time at her. She swerved and the others followed her. "We need more height!" Moody continued to shout.

"Nymphadora, the trunk!" Remus called up.

_Goodness that name's a mouthful_. "Secure it!" she called back to him.

"Bearing south!" Moody shouted again. "Bear southeast and keep climbing, there's some low cloud ahead we can lose ourselves in!" Moody's voice continued to ring.

Tonks looked ahead and had to master herself not to lose her temper at her insane old mentor. "We're not going through the clouds! We'll get soaked, Mad-Eye!"

It was cold. Tonks could feel really cold air whip against her face as she flew, following Mad-Eye's instructions and altered their course every now and then. She miserably wondered where Alexis was. Her lucky cousin was probably enjoying a nice broom ride under the stars with her lover instead of listening to Mad-Eye's crazy instructions.

"We ought to double back for a bit, just to make sure we're not being followed."

"ARE YOU MAD, MAD-EYE?" Tonks didn't mean to scream. "We're all frozen to our brooms! If we keep going off course, we're not going to get there until next week!"

"Time to start the descent!" said Remus, much to her relief. "Follow Tonks, Harry."

Harsh, sharp, prickly air whipped her face. Tonks could see the ground and she couldn't be happier. Finally, when she came to a rough skid on solid ground, she smiled. Then, Tonks realized that she was soaked from head to toe, her new jacket and favorite pink blouse ruined. She cursed herself for being one to never give up fashion for comfort or convenience.

"Bloody hell, we thought something happened," Alexis's voice sounded and Tonks looked up to see her cousin standing just several feet in front of her. "What took so long?"

"Shut up, Lexi," she grumbled.

* * *

They could hear Harry's voice all the way down in the kitchen. The kid must have been screaming at the top of his lungs at Ron and Hermione. After Dumbledore entered, Molly had to close and impertube the door so that they wouldn't be interrupted by Harry's outrage.

While Dumbledore spoke, Remus was distracted in his own thoughts. They had another guard shift coming up and knowing Tonks, she would use this opportunity to try and get him to tell her about what happened all those years in-between the end and the beginning. Remus felt himself dreading spending that guard time with her and at the thought, felt ashamed of himself. Tonks noticed his conflict and he appreciated it when she said nothing. Instead, in her silence she'd taken his hand and laced her fingers into his, fitting perfectly like lost pieces of a puzzle.

Returning to reality again, Remus saw that the meeting had ended. Dumbledore had left, asking Alexis to walk with him out for a private word, just like last time. Molly had gone upstairs to call down the kids, and Sirius was questioning why there were so many dungbombs lying around in the hallway in front of the kitchen door.

"Probably one of the kids trying to see if the door's been impertubed," said Silvia.

"Merlin," said Sirius. "How many dungbombs does one need to throw to make sure?"

Remus stood up and shrugged to Sirius's question. He walked with Tonks out into the hallway and joined Alexis at the door where they resealed the locks after everyone had left. Alexis didn't say anything and although her expression was stoic, her posture betrayed her. She stood still and poised allowing Remus and Tonks to pass instead of leaning on one leg like usual. That gesture could only mean that something was deeply bothering her.

"She won't talk about it," said Tonks, answering Remus's unasked question.

They returned to the kitchen after they sealed the door. Remus was lost in his thoughts again and while he was distracted, he couldn't catch Tonks as she tripped over the troll-leg umbrella stand and came flailing wildly to the floor.

_CRASH!_

"_Tonks!_" Molly cried exasperatedly.

Immediately after, Mrs. Black's horrible, earsplitting, bloodcurdling screech filled the halls of Grimmauld Place. Tonks was apologizing endlessly while Remus helped her up. He then followed Sirius who'd bolted out of the kitchen and hurried up the stairs. With stupendous effort, they'd managed to force the curtains closed and turned to face a completely stunned and probably perpetually mortified Harry Potter.

"Hello, Harry," Sirius greeted rather grimly. "I see you've met my mother. Pleasant woman, isn't she?" He was anticipating Harry to vex his frustration at him like he'd done with Ron and Hermione. Remus could tell his fear wasn't far off because following the look of surprise, an expression of chagrin fell upon Harry's face.

Soon Harry entered the kitchen, scarcely less gloomy than the rest of the house. Everyone took their seats and dinner began. Tonks had tried to help Molly and in her effort, her clumsiness nearly started a fire and knocked over a chair. Remus had grown so used to her clumsiness, he had stopped being surprised by her many little mishaps. When Tonks finally took a seat safely beside him, he knew she was back to questioning.

"I'm too tired to pester you tonight," she sighed, resting her chin on her hand.

Remus was surprised. He took her hand and sat closer to her. "I'm sorry," he apologized softly. She scoffed then turned away from him to look at Harry who had immediately gone to question Sirius and Silvia, his godfather and godmother, about _everything_.

As dinner came to an end, Moody and Mundungus who'd stayed bade their goodnights. Once it was just their family and the Weasleys left in the kitchen, Sirius cleared his throat purposefully and began the inevitable conversation. They needed to fill Harry in, if not entirely then enough for him to understand. Tonks finished the last of her butterbeer and rested her head on Remus's shoulder while they sat and listened.

"No, absolutely not," said Molly, bustling over to Harry.

"Molly, at least let him know what's being said about him in the Prophet. All the other kids already know," Alexis spoke up, her voice even, her arms crossed.

"What has the Prophet been saying about me?" Harry questioned, clearly unaware.

Sirius looked up and met Remus's eyes. "Show him," he said and Remus summoned up several old papers and handed them to Harry.

"But I don't understand. What's the Ministry got against me?" Harry questioned.

The table grew quiet. Sirius shifted under Silvia's hands as she came to stand behind him and placed her hands upon his shoulders. He patted her bony hand then looked back to Harry and said, "Fudge doesn't want to believe that Voldemort's back." A series of gasps and shudders sounded from the table. "If he's truly back, the Ministry will face problems they haven't dealt with for many years. Fudge wants to retain his position of power and to do that, he's trying to have others think that what you and Dumbledore are saying are just utter nonsense."

"Dumbledore's even been demoted as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot," said Silvia.

"Fudge is afraid of Dumbledore, you see," said Tonks sadly.

Harry's jaw tightened and he looked at them all. He was silent for a moment but then he spoke again and he asked the question Sirius knew he would ask. "What about Voldemort? What's he doing? Where is he?"

"No, that's enough," said Molly sharply. "It's time for bed."

An outrage followed her words as her own children demanded to be filled in on what the Order has been discussing for the past month. Harry sat quietly, listening, waiting for answers to his questions. When Sirius began to speak again, Molly had hushed him.

"He's just a _boy_, Sirius," Molly argued after Sirius tried to get her to let Harry know.

"He's fifteen," Sirius replied. "He deserves to know and I don't intend to tell him more than he_ needs to know_, Molly."

"Silvia," Molly sighed exasperatedly. She was looking for back-up but unfortunately for Molly, Silvia had already agreed with Sirius on what he should and should not tell their godson.

"He deserves to know, Molly."

Molly didn't back down. "Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much and speaking as someone who has got Harry's best interests at heart—"

"He's not your son," said Sirius quietly.

"He's as good as," said Molly fiercely. "Who else has he got?"

"He's got us!" Sirius retorted, clearly becoming angry. He was starting to rise from his chair despite the firm grip Silvia had on his shoulder.

"Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry," said Silvia sharply. "Sirius, sit _down_."

Defeated, Molly was forced to relent as Sirius began answering Harry's questions about what Voldemort has been up to. She'd forced the other kids to go upstairs but they'd caused an outrage. In the end, only Ginny was forced up to bed but Tonks knew that either Fred and George or Hermione would fill her in later. She sensed that Molly's efforts were futile.

As expected, Harry asked about Voldemort's activities, what the Order was, what the Order has been doing, and all the eerie silence on the muggle news. Tonks hadn't realized this but the Ministry had done an exceptionally wonderful job of covering up all the werewolf crimes and murders. Towards the end of their discussion, Sirius had let it slip what Dumbledore had told them earlier, of Voldemort being after something he wants desperately.

"Sirius," Silvia hissed and stopped him just before he said anymore.

"It'd be better for _all_ of us if Harry doesn't know about _that_ bit of information," said Alexis coldly beside Marrick.

Harry grew frustrated at still being kept in the dark but asked no more about that topic. Silence fell over them and everyone at the table sat there, suspended in their own gloomy, dreary thoughts. Finally, Ron let out a yawn he'd been suppressing for some time. Along with his brothers and Hermione, he left the kitchen and turned in for bed, sensing that they weren't going to be told anymore than what was already said. Molly and Arthur left as well, and after glancing at the clock, Marrick kissed Alexis goodnight and left Grimmauld Place, having to work early the next morning. It was only them now, in the kitchen, a very scattered family.

Tonks suppressed a yawn, bringing tears of weariness to her eyes as Harry now shifted to ask Sirius and Silvia about their summer.

"Let's go," said Remus quietly after Alexis had said goodnight and left for bed.

He took her hand and they left the kitchen quietly. In her drowsiness, Tonks found that ascending the stairs was a much more difficult task. Luckily, Remus was there to help her. He lifted her up—he actually _lifted_ her—and carried her to the second landing. Tonks was stunned and recovered herself as Remus brought her into the bedroom they shared and set her down on her two feet. She closed the door behind her and let out another yawn.

"Long day," Remus sighed, taking off his tie and hung it neatly in the wardrobe.

"Tell me about it," Tonks groaned, shrugged off her jacket, and fell onto the bed.

Remus came down beside her, pulling her up so that her head rested on the overstuffed pillow and her body under the blanket. He held her and they were quickly falling asleep. It had definitely been a long day and for the past month, too many things had happened all at once. It was overwhelming to say the least, even for Remus who had been through all this once before.

Tonks suddenly said something incoherent into his chest.

"What?"

"The full moon's coming soon."

He smiled although sadly. "Yes," Remus sighed. "It's the tenth of this month."

"D—worry…mhm ee there," Tonks mumbled incoherently.

Remus looked down, his arm over her shoulders. "You're tired, let's go to sleep." She made no sound and by the feel of her gentle, steady breathing, he knew she'd already fallen asleep. Remus shook his head and closed his eyes as darkness pressed upon his heavy eyelids.

* * *

"Bloody hell!"

"_Tonks!_" Silvia shrieked as Tonks, wet and soggy from head to toe, tripped over the troll-leg umbrella stand that was long established as the bane of her existence. She fell particularly hard that time, lying sprawled out on her back with the wind knocked out of her. The pile of scrolls and papers in her hands seconds ago were scattered all around her as Tonks stared up at the black and dreary ceiling of Grimmauld Place.

"Damn, Tonks," said Sirius, helping her up and holding onto her as she slipped a few times in the puddle of rainwater she'd made herself.

Because of all the noise, Mrs. Black's portrait had woken up again. Once Tonks was stable on her feet, Sirius scrambled upstairs to wrestle with the curtains covering his mother's portrait. Fred and George had apparated right beside him, effectively making even more noise, but their intention was good. They'd helped him close the curtains and silence the screaming woman. Leaning back, Sirius sighed.

"Thanks boys."

"Her insults were getting old anyways," said one twin.

"And her voice is even worse," said the other.

They disapparated back to their room and Sirius returned to the kitchen, shaking his head. Despite what Molly may say about her mischievous twins, they were brilliant with completely good hearts and their heads screwed on the right way.

When she entered the kitchen, Tonks was apologizing endlessly. "Sorry, I'm so sorry," she said over and over again.

Molly, who had just finished putting away the leftovers from dinner, was patting Tonks's shoulder comfortingly and charming her robes dry.

"Hey, where's Remus? Is he upstairs already?" Tonks asked.

Sirius nodded while Molly bustled out into the hallway, calling back saying, "Sirius, we really need to tackle that drawing room. Things are breeding in there!"

"We'll clean it after Harry's trial, Molly," Sirius replied. His irritation at the motherly woman vanished within a day. "Don't worry about it."

"Remus is upstairs, Tonks," said Silvia softly. "He's feeling extremely under the weather today. When I came up earlier to bring him his tea, he was asleep."

Sighing and running a hand through her platinum blonde hair, Tonks dropped her head on the table and stayed in that position for a minute. Harry stirred in his seat. He looked like he wanted to ask her something but he just wasn't sure if it was the right time. When Tonks looked back up at him, she seemed to have read his mind.

"Worried about your trial, Harry?" she asked.

"Yeah," he admitted weakly.

Sirius leaned in closer. "Have you heard anything?" he asked Tonks.

Tonks shook her head. "I haven't heard much of anything. I just know that it'll take place on the twelfth of August and instead of being tried simply by _one_ representative like normal cases of underage magic, Harry's special case will be tried before the _entire_ Wizengamot."

"We knew that from Dumbledore," said Sirius.

"It's in two days," Silvia sighed, looking at Harry with soft, caring, motherly eyes.

Harry obviously noticed her care for him and managed a small smile. "Will you come with me?" he asked Silvia then turned to Sirius and Tonks hopefully.

"Sadly, we can't." Sirius looked down. "We're not allowed."

"But why? You're my parents!" said Harry with force.

Both Sirius and Silvia smiled at what he said. "We're not allowed in the trial without purpose," Sirius explained. "Even if we're your parents, they won't let us in."

Harry frowned.

As the family of three began discussing Harry's trial, Tonks got up quietly and headed upstairs. She was glad Sirius finally found some stability in his life—it took him long enough. Carefully, Tonks climbed the old, creaking staircase. She passed by Kreacher, the malevolent old house elf who despises her possibly more than she despises him. He muttered insults she'd heard far too often to her and she ignored him.

On the third landing where the attic was, Tonks knew Remus would be there. She arrived and opened the door to find him inside, lying upon the old mattress with one hand over his head. His eyes gazed out upon the last of the sunset. It would be moonrise soon and Remus was just waiting, waiting for the pain to rip him apart, just like every month before that.

"Wotcher, Remus," said Tonks softly.

He sat up and smiled but his discolored face turned greenish. Tonks made her way over to his side quickly, taking swift and silent steps with coordination normally lost within her.

"You shouldn't be here," he said, closing his eyes for a moment.

"What do you mean?" she asked curtly.

"It's almost transformation. I could hurt you."

She crossed her arms. "I can't even see you?" Remus didn't respond and Tonks seized the chance to continue. "Why can't I spend the full moon with you like before?"

"Dora, I just don't want to risk it again," he mumbled.

Her memories were always clear and vivid and Tonks remembered exactly the incident on Remus's mind. "We were trapped in a godforsaken, inferi-infested cave and you didn't even have your potion. This moon, we're all prepared."

Remus bit his lips. By the state of him, wearing a very shabby shirt and trousers with cold skin as white as a sheet, Tonks felt terrible for arguing with him. But she knew she had to. Tonks wanted to spend the full moon with him because though they never said it out loud, she was certain that just by being together, the night would go by a lot easier for them both.

"I'm coming in after transformation," she said with finality.

When Remus nodded, Tonks brightened up and smiled. Her blonde hair had morphed into bubblegum pink and her heart still flipped at the way Remus looked at her with amazement and awe all mixed in his ardent eyes at her gift of being a metamorphmagus. She helped him out of his shirt and folded it as best as she can. Taking it with her, Tonks left him be as they saw the first glimpse of the luminescent full moon rise from the horizon.

She closed the door tightly behind her and walked slowly down to the second landing where the bedroom she shared with Remus was and set his shirt down on the bed for him. Leaving, she took with her the large blanket upon the bed and closed the door behind her. The blanket blocked off part of her vision—especially around her feet area—and Tonks had tripped into Bill Weasley, tall, rugged and handsome, returning home late from work with a radiant grin.

"Careful Tonks," he said, catching her. "What are you doing with a blanket?"

"It's the full moon," she said with a voice icier than she'd expected to sound.

Bill was unfazed. "Oh, Remus up there?" he asked conversationally.

Tonks nodded and since Bill was her best friend, she had the right to complain a bit to him if she wanted to. "The noble prat is afraid to let me spend the moon with him," she sighed.

"And knowing you, you're still going up there anyways." Tonks nodded and grinned. Bill lingered for a moment and finally asked her, "Does it hurt?" Bill's voice was mellow and soft. "I mean, I know it hurts physically for Remus. But for you…does it hurt?"

It was strange to think of an answer. Tonks had never asked herself whether spending the full moon with Remus would hurt her or not. She spent a moment to think and then shrugged in response to Bill's question. The words rolled off her tongue as if she'd already thought of them a long time ago. "It hurts seeing him hurt," she admitted, "But spending the night with him makes it go by a lot easier. Err…you know what I mean?"

Luckily, Bill understood her entirely. "I know what you mean," he smiled. "Funny, I would expect you to hook up with some wild, music-loving adventurers…not Remus, a gentle bookworm kind of bloke. You two fit each other though. You've changed, Tonks."

Holding back a grin was very difficult. Tonks's lips curled upwards to reveal a toothy grin as she began to sway awkwardly at what Bill had said about her and Remus. "You've changed too, Bill." She decided that teasing him would save her from an embarrassing moment of squealing and giggling. "You've been coming home pretty late. Is that perfume I smell?"

It was now Bill's turn to blush and Tonks walked away, smiling. She'd heard Fred and George discuss how Bill had been getting incredibly close with Fleur Delacour. He'd even grown to give her private lessons in English.

Returning to the attic, Tonks stopped in front of the wooden door and listened in. It was completely silent inside and she could only guess that transformation was done. Inhaling a deep breath for the last time Tonks had seem Remus as a wolf was many months ago, Tonks stepped inside. She walked in slowly, closing the door behind her.

"Wotcher again," she grinned.

In his werewolf form, Remus was skinner than Tonks had remembered. She took a moment to drink in everything about him all over again. His soft brown fur covered him while blue eyes, courtesy of the Wolfsbane Potion, glistened like stars under the moonlight as he looked back at her. His claws and long snout was nothing for her to fear when she looked into those gentle eyes. Tonks approached him and he didn't back away. She smiled even wider and took the last few steps over, hugging him tightly.

Truth be told, Tonks had missed being there for him. No matter how close they physically got every other time in the month, emotionally, their closeness still never quite matched the night of the full moon. During that night, Remus's heart was at its most vulnerable and Tonks had missed being there for him, easing it, protecting it, loving it. Nothing came close to her spending the moon with him.

* * *

Well into the night, Sirius, Harry, and Silvia were still seated in the kitchen, talking endlessly about their past, their present, and their future. Speaking about life, there was just so much to talk about. None of them were complaining. Harry's smile was plastered upon his face as he asked his godparents one thing after another. He'd never have the privilege to freely express his curiosity as a kid. That summer, while he was with Sirius and Silvia, it seemed like a great time to recover everything he's missed out on living with the Dursleys.

"Sirius, is the house always this quiet on the full moon?"

Sirius set down his cup of tea and looked up with a placid expression. "That's right; we haven't heard that much noise tonight." He looked to Silvia who seemed mesmerized by her vase of daisies. "Was it this quiet on the last full moon?"

Coming out of her reverie, she shook her head. "The last full moon went by like any other night. Molly yelled at Ron about something, Remus turned in early, and Tonks dragged Lexi upstairs right after she got home from guard duty and talked all night."

A pensive look lingered on Sirius's face. "I guess everyone's just tired tonight."

Harry was pushing his empty cup of tea across the table, back and forth between his hands. The scratching noise was bearable for only a few seconds. Silvia placed her warm hand over his and stopped him with a sharp, motherly glare and a slight shaking of her head. Harry stopped but instead of pouting like most other kids, he smiled. Watching him, Sirius thought it extremely unfair for the boy. He'd missed out on having proper parents and now even as he was being quietly scolded, he was enjoying it.

Silvia seemed to notice as well and her look softened. "Do you want more tea, Harry?"

"No thank you." Harry looked at them both for a minute, taking them in slowly, memorizing how he felt that moment, in the presence of his family. He then continued with his endless questioning that Sirius and Silvia didn't mind giving answers to, as long as he kept a fair distance away from the sorts of questions involving where babies came from. "How are Lexi and Marrick doing? We don't see a lot of Lexi lately."

"They're really busy. Lexi's promotion is just stressing her out and Marrick's always been a workaholic. They seem to be doing well," Silvia answered. "They get a little short with each other sometimes because of everything that's happening but it all blows over."

Sirius looked into his wife's warm eyes. "I admit they do handle their relationship better than most of us." Silvia nodded sadly but Sirius added, "But they're not _married_ and hopelessly in love." He then grinned, looking back at Silvia who'd cracked a smile.

Harry laughed softly. "What about you two?"

"Oh you know, just the usual married-couple-bickering," Sirius replied casually.

"If you call us screaming at the top of our lungs at each other simple bickering."

Sirius scoffed and beckoned her over to his lap. Silvia rolled her eyes but complied and when she sat down, he hugged her and began rubbing comforting circles upon her belly. He smiled back at Harry who was watching them with interest. "We love each other, so all is well."

Harry laughed again and he took a moment to memorize how his godparents looked in each other's arms. They would soon have Lucas and that would mean he would soon have a little brother. Harry considered Ron his brother but they were more like twins since they were close to the same age. On the other hand, he's never had a _little_ brother before. A smirk appeared upon his face as he came to a decision that he would be the most fun and reckless older brother ever.

"What's with that face?" Sirius asked. He'd seen the same look on James's face too many times before to not recognize it.

"Nothing," he replied but guilt dripped from his wry grin. "Err, how about Remus and Tonks? Tonight's the full moon. They both must be feeling pretty moody."

"I wouldn't say so," Sirius said slowly, looking up at the ceiling.

"I haven't seen Tonks since she went up," Silvia smiled.

"Dear old Moony finally relented and let her spend the full moon with him again."

Sirius shifted Silvia to his other leg and placed his ear gently upon her belly to hear his son's heartbeat, smiling. He looked across the table to Harry and saw a look of deep thought in his shockingly green eyes, identical to Lily's. Sirius could remember when the same pair of eyes, on the face of Lily Evans, glared up at him. He looked up at Silvia and as if she'd read his mind, she smiled too. She could remember it just as well.

"Something on your mind, Harry?" Silvia asked gently.

"I was just thinking…you know…if Remus would be happier if he was never a werewolf. I remember that time in my third year when he transformed…it must hurt a lot."

"It hurts to watch almost as much as the actual thing," Sirius confessed in a low voice.

"Yeah, wouldn't Remus and all of us be happier? I mean he looks so ill when the moon comes. And it's completely unfair that people discriminate against him."

"I'm glad you think that way," Sirius smiled. "But despite the pain and prejudice, I know that even if given the chance to turn back time…Remus would still choose to go down the road he'd already taken."

"Why?" Curiosity was bursting from Harry.

"Because things would have turned out a lot differently if Remus Lupin was never a werewolf." Sirius sat back, still holding Silvia. "Blame it on his completely pessimistic outlook on life but the truth is: Remus thinks that if he was never a werewolf, he would have never become friends with me and James, never met Silvia, or Lily, or you, and Tonks, especially Tonks. He once told me that being a werewolf was worth it."

Harry grew quiet.

"Moony is the kind of guy who believes there's a reason for everything…as silly as it sounds. If you give him a time turner and tell him to change the past, he'd hand it right back to you and go off to read a book or eat some chocolate," Sirius laughed. "That little nerd."

"Stop teasing poor Remus. You're always so mean to him," said Silvia warmly.

"That is a complete lie," Sirius replied, smiling wistfully. "James and I were particularly nice to him! I remember when James and I first approached him about his furry little problem. We were both so scared he'd punch us in the face or hex us with something real nasty—that bookworm was brilliant even as a first-year you know. But of course, this is Moony we're talking about so we were just being ridiculous. When we finally asked him, damn I felt so bad." Sirius leaned in closer to Harry and Silvia to whisper, "Moony looked like he was about to cry. We were scared but he was _terrified_. Of course, we convinced him we didn't care in the end and then came your Marauders." Sirius smiled proudly but he sobered up much too soon. "Thinking about it, technically…there were only _three_ Marauders. Peter just kind of tagged along and we were too nice to tell him to bugger off."

Silvia patted his shoulder softly and Harry tensed at the mentioning of Peter Pettigrew. He calmed himself though because Sirius had mentioned that Pettigrew was never a true Marauder. Harry would never consider him one.

"I remember those days," Silvia spoke. "You guys always teased Peter but he just kept tagging along. People always say you, James, and Remus were the real friends and Peter…."

"I wonder if we'd treated Peter a little better, how things would be," Sirius confessed.

Thinking about Pettigrew and Sirius's regrets, Harry looked up at both Sirius and Silvia and asked, "If you could do it all over again, would you?" Harry knew he personally would.

To his surprise, Sirius and Silvia both exchanged tender glances and said, "No."

"Why?"

It was Silvia who answered him, speaking words Harry knew Sirius would say too. "We'd run the risk of messing it up even more. Life isn't just bound by choices. If you change a decision you won't necessarily fix everything. Life is more complicated than that. Why risk messing things up in a different way?"

Sirius spoke in, finishing his wife's words. "Why risk hurting yourself more by meddling with time? Harry, we all find happiness eventually," he assured, then turned to Silvia and smiled as he gazed deeply into her eyes.

Harry was watching them. Dumbledore always went on about love conquering all ever since Harry met the man in his first year at Hogwarts. He'd believed it…but admittedly, not entirely…until he saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Sirius and Silvia, Remus and Tonks, Alexis and Marrick, and even Andromeda and Ted. Being around all these people who have lived, lost, and loved, the idea that love conquers all wasn't so farfetched after all.

"Harry, come here," Sirius said. Harry got up and came to them. "Place your hand here." Sirius guided Harry's hand onto the lower right of Silvia's belly. "Feel that?"

A brilliant smile lit up the teenager's face. "That's…"

"The baby, stirring," Silvia nodded. "We decided to name him Lucas, after my brother. We need help with a middle name though. It took us months to decide on Lucas alone."

"Well if Lucas is after your brother," Harry looked at Silvia then turned to Sirius. "Why not make the middle name be after _your_ brother, Sirius?"

Sirius made a face but he didn't dismiss the idea. "But Regulus is such a funny name."

"Does Regulus have a middle name?" Harry asked. He was still fascinated by the baby.

"Arcturus," said Sirius thoughtfully.

"Lucas Arcturus Black."

Three grins appeared and the small family lit up. "I like it," Sirius said finally.

* * *

The storm was like a morbid lullaby; the lightning like an unpredictable nightlight. Heavy rain pelted the rooftop and the drumming sound of pitter-patter had rocked them to sleep. While gale forces raged outside, inside, two lovers were sound asleep, nestled in the arms of each other in a loving embrace. It was insane to say the least. Amidst a storm, a woman with brilliant pink hair was happily asleep with a fully transformed werewolf. But it was love nonetheless and love was never normal or sane.

A ghost of a smile was present on Tonks's pale, heart-shaped face even as she was sleeping. Remus had fallen asleep before her and she'd been laughing at how even transformed, Remus still snored. Her hand was rested upon his furry chest, rising and falling with his steady breathing. He was warm and she was cozy. Even as the rumble of thunder echoed outside, they did nothing but stir gently and continue to sleep.

Night went by slowly as it always did on the full moon. When it well passed the hours of midnight, Remus stirred again. His heavy and sharp claws scratched against the wooden floor as he lazily dragged it to a new position. Curled up against him, Tonks turned. Her robes were pressed against his chest as she turned her back to him in sleep. It was that moment that Remus jumped. Something had burned him and within a second, he'd awoken, angry and confused.

His growl tore through the night. The entire house would have woken up had it not been for the Silencing Charm placed upon the attic room they were occupying.

Tonks's auror instincts kicked in and she scrambled to her feet, sleepy eyes blinking warily while her wand was drawn and in her hand. She held it against him firmly—she'd promised him that if ever the time came, she would defend herself, even if she was to defend herself from him. Green eyes met blue ones and they looked at each other.

Remus's mouth was pulled back, bearing sharp white teeth as he let out another growl and another angry snapping of his jaw. Tonks swallowed hard, glad she'd pushed herself a fair distance away in time. In silence, she looked at him, wondering what had suddenly made Remus so angry. He then calmed and the expression on his beastly face turned apologetic. He dropped down low to the ground, looking at her in a way Remus often would, apologetic and fearful. Tonks inhaled deeply then straightened herself. Her wand was still raised but she approached him, taking one slow step after another.

"What's wrong?" she asked; her voice hoarse and croaky from sleep.

He whimpered and had he been able to talk, he would be apologizing endlessly.

She put her wand away and came closer to him. Remus only backed away, pushing himself into a corner and looking at her with sorrowful eyes. Watching him, Tonks couldn't help but sigh. She knew him too well and tomorrow morning when Remus was human again, he would go on and on about how he could have killed her.

"Before you go off on how dangerous you are," she said with an eye roll. "I'm going to say this: it was an accident. Something woke you up and it's only natural you respond that way. Now come on Remus." She held a hand out to him and stood there to wait.

Remus didn't move.

"Remus, really, this is ridiculous," she groaned.

Finally, he approached her with one tiny step. Tonks smiled and took the last distance to him. She knelt down and held his face, looking at his hairy snout, his werewolf features, and his human eyes. She always looked at Remus as a whole, even in wolf form, and she never cared. He was still Remus to her. "Can you point out what made you react that way?" she asked him in a gentle voice, holding his gaze steady.

He looked down and she followed his eyes. His claws gestured to a place on his chest amidst the new scars and cuts he'd caused himself. Tonks looked carefully and pushed aside some of his fur to see raw, burned skin.

"What the hell?" she said. "How'd you get burnt?"

Remus didn't know but Tonks already had an idea.

"Oh damn," she groaned and patted her robes down. "Ouch, bugger!" she hissed when she was burned herself. Taking out her wand again, Tonks tapped the area where something in her robes was burning. Then, carefully, she pulled out her auror badge, silver and gleaming in the stormy moonlight against its black leather case. "What kind of idiot came up with a burning auror badge?" she grumbled as she read the message magically inscribed inside the leather casing. Once done, Tonks looked up to meet Remus's curious gaze and answered his unasked question. "It's a message from Kingsley," she said. "Something's happened." Tonks seemed worried. "Remus I-I have to go," she said quickly.

He nodded, understanding the nature of her job.

Tonks however, looked hesitant. She didn't move from where she stood.

Remus tapped his paw on the ground in the direction of the door then met her eyes again and nodded, hoping to have assured her he'd be all right alone and she'd done so much for him already. It took Tonks a moment longer until she finally moved and tentatively made her way to the door. He watched her go and as she closed the door behind her, she called back to him saying, "I'll be back soon."

She rushed stealthily down the creaking wooden staircase with such coordination, Tonks was surprised at herself. When she got to the front door, Tonks turned back, took a quick breath, and looked around. Everyone was asleep and she hadn't woken up Mrs. Black's screaming portrait. That was a relief. Tonks continued out the door, locking it behind her. The moment she got off the slippery stone steps, she disapparated on the spot in heavy rain and wind.

* * *

Much thanks and love! xD - WordyAndRestless


	6. To the End of Eternity

**Author's Note...**

Hello! First, I am so terribly sorry I haven't updated in...oh my god nearly a year! I have been working on an original story of my own and could not find time to update. I am so sorry. I am back though, and I apologize if my updates aren't as fast or steady as they used to be before, but I will update and finish this story. Thank you to everyone who kept supporting me, and thank you for reading and reviewing. I really appreciate this and...ah skip the formalities

askdfslghjgdljg I love you so much! I hope you find like a twenty-dollar bill on the ground or something nice!

Anyways, now for the story. This is a really long chapter 0.0 and I hope it's ok and that you'll enjoy it.

* * *

**Chapter 06 – To the End of Eternity**

_Glop._

Apparition was harder at night, especially when her destination was a part of London she wasn't familiar with. Upon her arrival, Tonks had stepped into a great big puddle of rain that reached her ankles. She jumped out of it quickly, muttering under her breath at her bad luck. Sweeping her soggy dark pink fringe out of her eyes, Tonks looked around. Trying to see through the veil of cascading rain and darkness was an impossible feat. Tonks decided to walk as she could see nothing. She headed in the direction where she heard the sounds of wet, slippery footsteps and people conversing back and forth.

Almost instantly, Tonks arrived upon an area of the street closed off by black and yellow crime scene tapes. She was utterly bewildered. The crime scene tapes could only mean two things: either she'd apparated to the wrong location and was treading upon the work area of muggle police officers, or the crime had been so badly exposed to muggles, aurors had to close it off using this measure.

"Tonks!" Kingsley's deep, reassuring voice called her name.

She looked up, glad to see him. He was running towards her, his robes soaked from the endless rain. Kingsley was on the other side of the tape and lifted it to let her through. Tonks had a bad feeling about this, especially when she got the call at three in the morning. They wouldn't have called her if it hadn't been an emergency.

"King, what's wrong? Why are we using crime scene tapes?"

"Big attack," he breathed, looking around. "Good, the Obliviators are getting things handled." Tonks looked as well and to her left, she recognized a team of Obliviators interrogating the small crowd huddled together under a hub of canopies and umbrellas. "You have to see this." He led Tonks over to an alley where aurors were walking back and forth from. "Muggles spotted this attack first. Luckily, we have a wizard present who'd managed to contact us in time. There's been another werewolf attack."

Immediately, all the blood rushed from Tonks's face, reducing her rosy complexion to a pale and empty look. Her eyes glanced up towards the full moon, still present against the stormy night. It was a werewolf attack and the werewolf was still on the loose. Judging by the troubled look on Kingsley's face, they haven't caught the attacker yet.

"Aurors, Obliviators, the Werewolf Capture Unit, and several Unspeakables are here."

"Unspeakables?" Tonks asked.

"Yes, Lexi's here too," Kingsley replied, leading her past the four aurors on guard. "She spoke with Marrick and he's gone to quiet down the muggle news. The Unspeakables are here because another one of them has been killed and this time, I'm afraid information was leaked."

Her heart stopped. The mind of an Unspeakable, even a mundane one like the often mentioned Broderick Bode, contained many secrets that would cost the Ministry greatly if revealed. What had the attacker learned from this murdered Unspeakable? "Have we determined how many werewolves were here yet? I'm certain there had to be more than one."

"Have a look for yourself. We all only got here a short while ago," Kingsley replied.

The rainwater streaming out from the alley was scarlet. The coppery scent of blood lingered in the air through the rain and Tonks could see traces of flesh splattered upon the brick walls surrounding the alley. She braced herself and walked to where several aurors and Unspeakables, along with her cousin Alexis, were examining the bodies.

"Oh bloody hell," she groaned.

"Bloody indeed," Alexis sighed, standing up and pulling off a pair of bloody gloves.

Pools of blood lay thick and gory under the vengeful rain. Flesh, skin, and even body parts were torn and scattered the ground and walls. Under the silver moonlight, Tonks could see the jagged claw marks upon the mutilated corpses. The red brick walls had similar claws imprinted upon them. Whoever the werewolf was, it had to have been very angry. The faces, from what Tonks could see, were all pale and bloodless—all the blood had been drained from their bodies, spilling out onto the streets. Their insides were ripped up and Tonks cringed when she saw bite marks and a pile of half-eaten flesh. There were five victims total. One man lay dead and hidden beside a dumpster. The gruesome scene must have been the last thing he ever saw alive, the expression of horror and bewilderment still not quite gone from his lifeless face.

"This is bloody macabre," an auror sighed and walked past Tonks.

"Where is the Unspeakable?" Tonks asked, coming to stand beside Alexis.

It was the first time, for as long as she could remember. Alexis was anxious and on edge, bouncing on her feet as she awaited something. A quick look around had brought Tonks the answer to her unasked question. The identity of the Unspeakable still hadn't been confirmed and Alexis was growing grimmer as she waited for the black figure beside her to reach a conclusion. Tonks had never seen her cousin in such a panicked state.

"The rest of them are muggles," said Kingsley after speaking to an auror covered in blood and rain. "They have nothing in common except for an appointment with death. It seems the Unspeakable was this werewolf's target and the unlucky passersby just happened to encounter them." He charged an umbrella to cover Tonks and himself as they flipped through the scarce information gathered from the scene.

"Kingsley, to be honest, I don't care who these muggles are," said Alexis, pulling the hood of her black work robes up to shield her from the pelting rain. "Depending on who was murdered and what kind of information could possibly be leaked…_we_ are going to have a lot of problems on our hands." There was a purposeful look in her eyes and without saying it, Tonks knew she was talking about the Order. "Mr. Charice, _please_ hurry up," Alexis rushed the black figure swooping around at her feet, possibly trying to gather an identity.

"Do we have any idea who could have been behind this attack?" Tonks asked, steeling herself and trying not to vomit from the scene that only got messier with the rain.

"We have a definite suspect," said Kingsley a little louder than before. "I had the WCU match the lengths and identifying marks found around the scene to their database. From what they can gather, they're certain it has to be a woman's doing and the method of operation matches Selene Hawkins's previous victims. The WCU is now out, looking for her."

"Is there any possible way your team could retrieve a copy of Hawkins's school record for me?" Alexis asked, sniffing, catching a cold.

Tonks was bemused. "Her school records?"

"Blame it on my lack of sleep but I can't think of any other way for information to be taken unwillingly from an Unspeakable other than the use of Legilimency. Hawkins must have been educated in the field and perhaps her school records could show it."

"I'll look into it Lexi," Kingsley assured just as the black figure stood up and solemnly handed Alexis the results she'd been dying for. "Who was the Unspeakable killed?"

Frozen in disbelief, Alexis gaped at the results for a long time. She finally spoke again after Tonks waved her hand in front of her cousin's eyes a few times, causing Alexis to jump and sneeze. "Lexi, who was killed?" Tonks questioned.

"Rookwood," she whispered in an unbelieving tone.

"What?" Kingsley and Tonks were equally confused.

"Rookwood's killed…but…no, that-that's not right." Insanity masked the sharp look of intellect Alexis usually had in her eyes. "I was certain that Rookwood was…" She groaned and cursed, screaming profanity into the night and caused many eyes to turn towards them for her colorful language. "This isn't right—damn!" And before Tonks or Kingsley could utter a question in response, Alexis had ran off, speaking rapidly to a group of Obliviators before disapparating in midst of the heavy storm.

"What…just happened?" Tonks questioned, still in shock from her cousin's reaction.

Kingsley bent down to pick up the papers Alexis had carelessly dropped and began to look through the information. "I think we just witnessed Alexis Black on the verge of a mental breakdown," he replied while reading over the results. "I don't understand. It says here, in great detail, that the Unspeakable murdered was Augustus Rookwood." He walked over to where the corpse laid and Tonks followed. They both bent down and cringed as they examined the body in closer detail. "His face—at least the part we can see—even resembles Rookwood. Why is Lexi saying it's not right? Should Rookwood not be dead?"

"I don't know," said Tonks, looking in the direction where her cousin had run off to and disapparated. "Hopefully when Lexi finds whatever it is she's looking for, she'll give us some clarity. Head over to headquarters tomorrow." Kingsley nodded. "For now, we have to find this feral. It's almost sunrise and if we're lucky, we'll be able to apprehend it without much effort."

"We have to find it first," said Kingsley as he got up. "This is Hawkins we're dealing with, remember? She's been eluding arrest for months." He sighed. "We have a lot to discuss for the next meeting," he whispered so that only Tonks and the howling wind and rain could hear.

* * *

He blinked.

Sunlight blinded his sensitive eyes and he sat up abruptly, grunting at the horrible pain that filled his body. He could hear shuffling beside him and he could feel that he was no longer in the attic at Grimmauld Place. Remus was now lying in a soft bed and someone had taken a seat beside him.

"Whoa there," said Sirius's low, husky morning voice. "Easy on yourself, Moony."

Remus blinked a few more times and adjusted to the morning sunlight that filtered through the partially closed curtains. He looked to Sirius, eyes filled with a desire for answers. "Where's Nymphadora?"

"Downstairs," Sirius answered while he yawned. "Silvia's cleaning her up."

"Cleaning?" Remus jumped and again hurt himself as he bounced on the bed.

Sirius placed a firm hand on his shoulder, keeping him seated. "She's fine, just wet and in a very foul mood," he assured. "She and Lexi were called to a crime scene last night, that's all."

"But she left urgently and I didn't hear her come back—"

"She's fine, see for yourself," Silvia's voice sounded and Remus looked to the door.

In the doorway, Tonks stood beside Silvia, smiling with drowsy eyes and very wet, dark pink hair. She looked as if she'd just taken a shower as she was wearing a violet waffle bathrobe and her wet hair was pulled up in a messy bun.

"I'll have your robes washed and dried by lunch," Silvia told Tonks warmly with a smile. "Or if the mother-hen wakes up," she laughed, "we might have it done by breakfast."

"Thank you Silv," said Tonks, patting her hand. "Have you heard from Lexi yet?"

Sirius and Silvia both frowned and shook their heads. "I already contacted Marrick," said Sirius. "He went to the Ministry and said she's down in her office but she won't come out and without her permission, no one can enter to see her."

Tonks let out an exasperated sigh. "Can you please wake me up if you hear anything from her? We really need to speak. I fear something's going on in the Department of Mysteries."

Silvia nodded and taking Sirius's hand, they left the room. Remus and Tonks were alone now, looking at each other as Remus sat on the bed and Tonks leaned on the doorjamb. Her drowsy smile widened and Remus, gazing at her, smiled himself. Tonks staggered over to him, tripping slightly because of her sleepiness, and collapsed beside him onto the bed. He pulled her closer to him, his heart assuaged at the sight of her safe and sound.

"What happened last night?" he asked softly while lying down beside her.

Tonks turned around to face him. "There was an attack. A feral werewolf was loose in London. It killed and Unspeakable and information the Unspeakable held was leaked. When Lexi looked at the identity of the victim, she was appalled to find out that it was Rookwood and…kind of went crazy."

"Rookwood is dead?" Remus questioned, finding it hard to believe as well.

"The papers say so and the aurors have ruled the death as final but Lexi refuses to believe it and keeps saying that there was something not right. I don't really understand her madness," Tonks sighed. "I haven't had a chance to speak with her since she ran off."

"She'll come home eventually," he said softly. Remus went to hug her but stopped suddenly and held himself in check. "You're not hurt, are you?"

She shook her head. "Just tired," she mumbled softly. "King and I were running a lot." She paused for a moment with a pensive look in her eyes before saying, "When are you ever going to tell me about what happened between the last war and when you met me?"

"I thought you'd forgotten," he said softly.

"No. And what happened last night had me thinking more about it. We believe that Selene Hawkins may be the one behind the massacre. Remus, if you know anything—"

"I don't know anything about Hawkins." His reply was much too abrupt, and Tonks sensed that something specifically involving this Selene Hawkins woman had Remus troubled.

"All right," she relented and out of weariness, decided to let the matter rest until another time. "Just, please…tell me eventually."

Remus nodded. He drew her close against him, sighing at the comfort of having her in his arms. His scratches and pains from transformation were forgotten with her there. Remus traced his hands over her skin and felt her arms tighten securely around his torso. He nuzzled her neck and whispered quiet, private words into her ear, helping her sleep. When Tonks fell asleep, there was still a ghost of a smile on her face and Remus reveled at the sight.

* * *

The day went by in a blur. In their exhaustion, Tonks and Remus had both slept until evening and when they woke up, the sun was already setting, the late summer sky shifting into indigo. Tonks yawned and rolled out of bed, determined not to let an entire day go to waste. Though she and Kingsley had failed to capture Hawkins, she was still not going to let the case slip away. Groaning, Tonks fell onto the floor and pushed herself up to her feet. Remus was already awake and managed to get up in a much more normal fashion that she did. He looked at her and smiled as he held out a hand in waiting.

There were still many questions Tonks wanted to ask him, but she knew it would be best to wait and ask at a later time. She took his hand and they went into the bathroom to handle their ablutions quickly before descending the old staircase heading for the kitchen. Tonks was still yawning as she entered and was surprised when the sound of a sneeze and a cough greeted her. She quickly regained herself and turned to find her cousin, Alexis Black, seated beside the fire behind a tottering pile of paperwork with a red glowing nose and eyes cradled by dark circles.

"Lexi!" she exclaimed. "I thought you'd gone mad! Are you all right?"

"Do I bloody look all right?" Alexis snapped, followed by another sneeze.

Beside Remus, Tonks took a seat and watched as Marrick brought a steaming cup of tea over to Lexi while Fred, or maybe George, brought her another blanket. It was expected of Marrick, the workaholic albeit caring lover, but George, or Fred, was a complete surprise. She elevated an eyebrow but decided not to question when she had other, more pressing matters to speak with her cousin about.

"Lexi, when did you arrive home?" Remus questioned warmly.

"Just an hour ago actually," said Alexis in a stuffy voice. "How was the moon?" her tone with Remus was casual even though they were speaking about the full moon.

"It was all right," he smiled softly and began to make tea for himself and Tonks.

"Oi," Tonks called out to her cousin. "Have you found some sanity yet? What was last night all about anyways? So Rookwood died. What were you talking about when you said it isn't right?" Her questions came out faster than she could process them.

Alexis groaned and dropped her head on the table. "I'll just explain everything when the others get here," she mumbled into the wood of the table.

"The others?"

Tonks answer came to her immediately when a majority of the Order of the Phoenix filed into the long and narrow kitchen. George received a glare from Molly and after his long-winded attempts at convincing her to let him stay, still wound up sulking as he ascended the staircase. Moody and Kingsley came in behind Sirius and Silvia and the door closed behind them. Many members were absent, including Dumbledore, and Moody stood up to lead the meeting.

As expected, they began with simple updating and exchanging of information. For the members who were not informed or unclear upon some topics, Moody went over in great detail the recent events that would involve them. Once the normal routine was finished, all attention fell on Alexis when Kingsley sparked the question of what was going on in the Department of Mysteries.

"I guess I'll just be honest with everyone right now since you'll all eventually go in there anyways," Alexis sighed.

"We'll eventually go in there?" Bill spoke up, surprised.

"Yes," Moody grunted. "Harry Potter is now here and safe at Grimmauld Place. For the Advance Guard, we will be arranging schedules for people to guard the Prophecy in which Albus had explained to us during the last meeting. This Prophecy will be guarded around the clock and seeing that it's in the Department of Mysteries, we will have to go in there.

Alexis didn't look too happy about this.

Speaking of Level Nine and the mysteries that surround its name, Kingsley had other questions on his mind that had nothing to do with Harry Potter and the Prophecy. "Lexi," he called. "What had you so worked up about the death of Augustus Rookwood last night?"

"Are you certain the man killed is Augustus Rookwood?" she questioned in response.

"Yes," Kingsley seemed curious of her doubts. "I'm very certain."

"See, the thing is, I don't believe that it is Augustus Rookwood who was the one killed."

"What are you talking about?" Tonks questioned.

"For a long time now, Dumbledore and I have suspected that Augustus Rookwood is a part of You-Know-Who's close-knit Death Eater circle. His name was mentioned many times in the last war under the accusation of being a spy but he was never charged under trial by Barty Crouch Sr. I'm certain he has relations to Death Eaters. So now think about it. We, the Order, have confirmed that these werewolves work for Greyback and are under You-Know-Who's control. Rookwood and they are on the same side. It wouldn't make sense for them to kill him in such a brutal and explicit fashion."

"There could be internal rivalry present," said Sirius with a shrug. "These are Death Eaters we're talking about. They're not one to think through their actions. It could be that Rookwood has upset a werewolf and on the full moon, the werewolf went out to seek revenge."

Tonks was lost. After Sirius spoke, voices around the table blended together as the scarce Order debated about what the werewolves and Voldemort could be after. Accepting that she wasn't going to be able to get back into the conversation any time soon, Tonks decided to sit back and take a moment to think through everything.

She glanced at her side to look at Remus. He had on a stoic expression, seeming like he was paying absolutely no attention at all to the heated discussion. Tonks's eyes traveled and upon noticing his white knuckles clenched into fists, she knew he was listening to every word and was bothered by the constant mentioning of werewolves and murder.

"Alexis, what do you think could be happening if it is true that Rookwood isn't dead?" Moody questioned, his gruff voice rising over the rest, causing Tonks to pay attention again.

"First, the problem would be whose body do we have that we're thinking is Rookwood's right now?" Kingsley paled at the thought. "Second, that would mean that Rookwood is using Polyjuice Potion to disguise himself as someone else from the Department of Mysteries. I've checked things over and other than him; everyone in Level Nine is accounted for. I am quite certain he's using Polyjuice Potion. A third and more dire problem would be that I don't know who he's disguised as, I don't know what sort of information he's been disclosed or have uncovered, but that information will be used to help You-Know-Who retrieve the Prophecy."

"We have a point to worry then," said Silvia, finally speaking up. "With Lexi unsure of who she can and cannot trust in her own department, she's left alone to face an unseen enemy and to protect the Prophecy."

"She won't be alone," Moody grunted in a low voice. "The guard duty starts again tonight." He shot Alexis a sharp look with both eyes, human and magical. "I don't care how far you can get us in. You can just leave them at the door for all I care, but either way, guard duty starts tonight. We cannot risk the Prophecy being taken, understand?"

"What are the shifts?" she asked solemnly, not happy at all.

"Remus and Tonks will start the first shift tonight," Moody began. "Only for tonight. Dumbledore has a request, a mission for you two. I'll inform you of a date to meet with him when he tells me." Turning away from his old student, Moody looked at the rest of the table and read off a list of names and dates he'd pulled out from his pocket. "Sirius, Silvia, you are guarding tomorrow night after Harry's trial. Bill, you and Arthur follow, then Kingsley and Marrick, Lexi will keep watch over it during the day time when it is inconvenient for us to be near it. I will send the later dates to you once I have it all sorted out."

The meeting came to a slow end and people began filing out of the house at different time intervals so as not to draw suspicion from the neighbors. Marrick was the last of those who didn't live at Grimmauld Place to leave and disapparated right on the front step after exchanging a long and private moment with Alexis right at the front door. After Tonks helped her cousin replace the locks and spells on the door, they returned to the kitchen to find that all the kids had rushed down; desperately trying to question the adults on what the meeting had been about. Sirius was unable to give them any information with Silvia glaring at him from the side. Molly had hushed everyone else who even so much as mentioned the word _meeting_, and soon the conversation shifted to the topic of Harry's trial that was coming unexpectedly tomorrow morning. Tonks had completely forgotten about it amidst all the chaos.

"Who all will be there?" Arthur questioned. "I am not allowed in I'm afraid. By law, I technically have no relation to Harry."

"Will _anyone_ be with me?" Harry asked timidly.

"Lexi will be there, won't you?" Sirius asked.

Alexis looked up as she was pouring herself a generous glass of firewhiskey. "Yes but I'll be playing the bad guy," she replied just as Molly swatted her hands exclaiming, "Lexi, you're overfilling!"

"Don't you have a cold?" Tonks questioned but George laughed and she turned to him with an elevated eyebrow.

"Firewhiskey is her medication," he simply replied while Alexis grinned at a full glass and began drinking it as if it was nothing but water—sweet, delicious, burning water.

"Wait, what do you mean you'll be playing the bad guy?" Harry asked.

"I'm on the Wizengamot, sweetheart," she answered. "But don't worry, Sirius and Silvia will be there with you—at least to watch."

"We will?" Sirius was happy but surprised.

"Are we allowed to?"

"Technically, you're his parents. I mean, you're kind of _required_ to be there."

The husband and wife leaned back and smiled, exchanging a familial look with Harry.

The conversation eventually reached an end and in silence, Remus and Tonks got up together. They weren't heading up to bed however. They were following Alexis back to the Ministry with an Invisibility Cloak given to them by Moody just before he returned home.

* * *

Remus and Tonks followed Alexis into the Ministry, using a private entrance Tonks confessed she never even knew existed. Alexis introduced her to an elevator with a secret button to the Atrium that only showed up with the tap of a wand.

They took that elevator down to the Atrium and waited silently as the elevator music played. Alexis continued to sniff and Tonks began to hum to herself, a tune from one of her favorite songs of which Remus had grown to memorize—blame Tonks for being around him so often. Her taste in music had influenced him.

From the Atrium, they took a faster lift down to Level Nine, the Department of Mysteries. Remus had never been there and was bewildered by how cold and gloomy it was. The walls were polished and black to the point where their reflections looked like ghostly, dreary figures. They arrived upon a lone door at the end of the long, dark hallway and followed Alexis through it to a circular room with doors filling the wall that was revolving slowly around them. From there, they followed Alexis through another door she seemed to have picked at random.

"Put your cloak on. I'm already risking my job and sanity helping Dumbledore with this."

"You're actually taking us _inside_ and letting us stay there?" Tonks asked.

"Yes, I figured I'm insane already. Besides, there's more of a chance of you being caught if I leave you at the door. Anyone can walk by the door, not just Unspeakables. In here, you'll just have to worry about Unspeakables who don't show up at work until eight at the earliest."

Remus pulled Mad-Eye's Invisibility Cloak out from under his robes and threw it around him and Tonks.

"You'll only need it for a bit. Once you get into the Hall of Prophecy, you can take it off. No one's allowed to be in there past work hours."

"Wait, Lexi, why is your sanity at risk?" Tonks asked.

"The most valuable things we possess are the thoughts inside our minds," Alexis answered after a tiny sneeze she'd failed to hold back. "The protections use it against us."

Remus could see Tonks mouth a silent "oh" while they were under the cloak. "How do we get past that revolving room?" Tonks continued to question.

"Just pick any door. As long as you know where you want to go, it'll lead you there. For you guys, you'd want to go to Study Hall, which is where we are now."

Tonks nodded.

Alexis turned and entered a door, the only one that lined the hall. "This is the Room of Thought Glasses…don't ask, I'm not supposed to explain."

Remus nodded that time but he knew Alexis couldn't see them.

The Room of Thought Glasses was filled with a collection of mirrors, mumbling what appears to be the thought process of a million people. Remus passed by and could have sworn he saw one with his name and reflection in it. It was strange to know that at any given time, people could be looking at him and hearing what he was thinking, even his secrets.

"Don't worry Remus," Alexis spoke and he knew she'd read his mind. Unspeakables were taught Legilimency and Alexis had always been adept in it. Whether she read his mind on purpose or by accident, he didn't care. He trusts her. "They only mutter. No one's been able to decode the language they're speaking in yet."

The three of them continued to traipse through the room and entered another chamber, that one emptier and dreary, looking an awful lot like Courtroom Ten. In the center, Remus and Tonks both noticed a giant stone archway. In the center of it, there seemed to be a thin veil, rippling and whispers were coming from it.

"Lexi, what is that?"

"This is the Death Chamber. I recommend you don't come to close to that." She pointed to the stone archway. "Walk through the veil and you're dead…literally."

Tonks gulped and wondered what sort of experiment the Unspeakables had to perform to find out about that veil. She realized she didn't want to know and followed her cousin to another door, walking alongside Remus under the Invisibility Cloak that could barely cover them. They entered another room, a large, warehouse-like room lit by dim candlelight and filled with tall, endless shelves that held an infinite collection of small, palm-sized crystal balls.

"And here we are," said Alexis. "You can take off the cloak now. I reckon it must be pretty uncomfortable under that thing."

"Bloody hell, yeah," Tonks sighed and helped Remus fold the cloak into a neat square.

"This is the Hall of Prophecy." Alexis sighed, looking troubled. "Dumbledore's made me make this available for access. Usually, _no one_ is allowed in here. Prophecies that are made magically transfer itself here you know." She walked around and they followed her. Tonks reached forward, about to touch a spun-glass that intrigued her. "Don't touch!"

"All right, damn!" Tonks replied, pulling her hand back quickly.

"Those spun-glasses are Prophecy Records. The Head Unspeakable, in this case me, use ancient magic to protect them, and ancient magic cannot be lifted easily. Prophecies can only be removed by those they refer to. If you touch them and they aren't made for you, you'd be subjected to the series of protection spells placed upon them and you'd either lose your sanity or worse case scenario, die."

Tonks made a face and Remus pulled her a step back away from the shelf. "Nice protections," said Tonks apprehensively. "Don't touch—I got it."

"Interesting," said Remus, looking around. "Is there a prophecy made for everyone?"

"That's the theory, yes," Alexis answered. "I haven't been in this position long enough to look through all the prophecies so I don't know. Harry's prophecy however, is at the end of row ninety-seven. Again, don't touch anything."

"So we just patrol around it and make sure no one removes it?" Tonks asked.

"That's what Mad-Eye told me you should do."

"Is this why you've been so troubled before Rookwood's supposed murder?" Tonks inquired. "Was it because you can't let anyone in here and Dumbledore's asked you to?"

"No," Alexis replied and sneezed. "Dumbledore actually wanted me to move it."

"And it's impossible," Remus finished and Alexis nodded.

"Well, I'll just leave you two here then. Be careful and see you in the morning." Quickly, dying to get out of there, Alexis left them and returned to the door from where they came from.

Tonks turned back to Remus who had continued to walk down the path between the towering shelves of glass balls, heading for row ninety-seven. Her mind returned to the one thought that had been pestering her for the past week. It seemed like the perfect time to bring it back up. She ran after Remus, placed a hand on his shoulder, and turned him around.

"Can you tell me now?" She didn't need to go into details. He already knew.

Remus was weary at her questioning, she knew. He was trying to hide it but the quiet sigh that escaped him had betrayed him. "Can you give me a moment to gather my thoughts?" he sounded breakable and Tonks couldn't bring herself to utter another sound.

She was silent for a long time. They arrived at row ninety-seven and Tonks didn't speak as Remus and she began walking in circles around the shelf to keep an eye on the prophecy.

After a long time, there was finally noise again. The thick silence was penetrated by the sound of Remus's velvety voice, speaking careful words after thinking them over in his mind time and time again. "It was after Sirius had been arrested," he began, speaking very softly, very slowly in recollection. "Dumbledore had just came by and told me everything. He told me how Harry would live with his muggle relatives, how James and Lily and Peter died, and how Sirius had been the traitor. You have to understand. There were a lot of things unclear back then. I didn't know Peter was the real traitor. I had thought it was Sirius, like everyone else, and I wanted an answer. When I got to the Ministry, I found him dragged away, laughing like a madman." He paused, trying to recall a detail that had eluded his thoughts for quite some time. "And on the side, I remember I saw three hooded figures watching him."

"Three?" Tonks asked. "What?"

"I didn't know who they were at first." Remus paused. "But now I've figured it out. They had to have been Bellatrix, Andromeda, and Narcissa. I guess, I don't know, like me, they wanted answers too. In hindsight, should have taken that as the first clue. If even Bellatrix Lestrange, Voldemort's most loyal servant, wanted answers from Sirius, he couldn't have been the one that betrayed James and Lily."

Tonks took a hold of his hand. "You didn't know it then."

He nodded and continued. "Afterwards, as you can guess, the celebration began. There were parties everywhere and wizards weren't bothering to cover up for the muggles—they were too happy you see. So the world was celebrating…and I…" Remus paused again. "I…just couldn't take it anymore. The loneliness got to me and I wondered if I'd be able to find comfort in others of my kind. I had no idea what I was walking into. Even when I was little, my parents worked to keep me away from the werewolf packs, hoping to keep me as human as possible."

_You are human_, she wanted to say but she couldn't find her voice.

"As if fate had something to do with it, I ended up in Greyback's werewolf pack." He paused. "I don't know what I was thinking then—what made me join."

There was darkness in his eyes, a bleak iciness that Tonks had never seen before in him. He was hiding something. He was omitting some important detail, and though Tonks wanted to know, she knew he wouldn't tell her right then, and so she waited as he went on.

"When I got there, because of what I am, they welcomed me. I stayed for some time and—you could say—made friends with Lucian, Ralph, Bartol, Lysandra, and Selene."

"Selene Hawkins?" Tonks clearly remembered that Remus had said he knew nothing about her. It was then that she realized: Remus Lupin, no matter how damaged and gentle, was still capable of lying. She set her jaw and kept her silence, waiting for him to go on.

"She came in after me. Someone in the pack had turned her and not knowing what to do; they took her back to us. I, along with Lucian and the others helped her get used to being a werewolf." Remus sighed. "This is why I couldn't believe what she'd turned into. When I first met her, she was a very kind woman, very gentle, incapable of a wicked thought. But now…"

"Now she's just as wicked as Greyback."

"Yes, now she's just as wicked as Greyback. But back then, we got close. We weren't as close as I had been with the Marauders, of course." A lofty smile appeared and Remus looked reminiscent for a second. "We were never as close as I had been with the Marauders. But spending time there, I grew less lonely. Sure, during transformation, we'd all be easily aggravated and a lot of us got hurt more often because violence broke out easily when so many werewolves were in one place, but it was all right. It was like a world of its own. We ignored the Wizarding World and the muggle population. It was just us werewolves…." Remus grew quiet.

"So you spent the years after the first war ended with Greyback's pack?"

Remus nodded.

"But then, how'd it turn out like this?"

"I had always known that Greyback was the werewolf that bit me. At one point in time, I'd let my pent up frustration get the best of me. I succumbed to my own rage and…after what I did there was no way I could stay in that pack any longer."

"What did you do? And you joined Greyback despite knowing he'd bitten you. Why?"

Remus bit his lips. "How about you let me think about it for next time?"

"Fine," Tonks agreed reluctantly and yawned.

* * *

They returned in the morning, tired and with aching legs from a night of pacing and standing. Tonks was half-asleep as she staggered into the dark and icy hallway of Grimmauld Place, Remus just behind her. They could hear sound coming from the kitchen and headed there in hopes of finding some tea and breakfast before they returned to bed. Tonks thought that she'd somehow developed a nocturnal lifestyle.

"Oh damn!" Tonks swore when she suddenly tripped over something and collided against the ground, lying sprawled out on her stomach with a large bruise forming on her face.

"Dora!" Remus's voice, laced with worry, echoed through her ear and the next moment, she was being helped up to her feet again. Mrs. Black's shrill voice deafened her ears and she caught sight of Sirius breezing past her to shut up his ungodly irritating mother. Before she sat down, Tonks glared at the troll-leg umbrella stand, the bane of her existence. She wondered why it was still there—it wasn't like they used it or anything.

"Are you all right, Tonks?" Silvia asked as she helped Harry into a blazer that once belonged to Sirius for his trial.

"Not at all," she grumbled.

Silvia smiled pleasantly. "How was your shift?"

"Dismal."

"You're in such a happy mood," she teased and Tonks smiled.

Sirius returned with a large, rocking pile of scrolls and papers and his mouth was blabbering away in complaints at having to help Alexis carry her things downstairs. Tonks rubbed her sleepy eyes and thanked Remus when he handed her a cup of tea and took a seat beside her to watch Sirius complain. Oddly, there was something amusing in Sirius, but Tonks realized that that amusement was quickly turning into irritation and she wished her cousin would just be quiet.

"Honestly, how much work do you have to do?" Sirius asked.

"This isn't work. I just wanted to look over the profiles of all the Unspeakables in hopes of narrowing down who Rookwood could possibly be posing as."

Tonks shook her head. Of course Alexis was still concerned about that. Although there _was_ a slight chance that Rookwood had faked his death to confuse Alexis, Tonks didn't think it was likely. Augustus Rookwood was smart but he was never that creative. She also wasn't sure how someone would fake their own death—wasn't there a way to tell exactly whose body it was? Either way, Tonks felt her cousin was taking a ridiculous line on this assumption.

"Are we all set?" Sirius asked and soon, they were out the door.

Remus and Tonks were the only ones left inside the kitchen while the Weasleys were asleep upstairs. Tired, they both decided to turn in as well and got up lazily, dragging themselves to the stairs. Tonks swore she would have easily fallen asleep right on the kitchen table had Remus not insist that she should find a bed less Molly woke up and pushed her off the table.

"What's this?" Remus asked, bending down to up several scrolls and pieces of paper.

"I'm pretty sure these are Lexi's. Sirius must have dropped them on his way down."

"Hmm, and we make fun of you for _your_ clumsiness," Remus smiled.

She was glad he was smiling and teasing her again, but the thought about his reason in joining Greyback's pack still lingered in the back of her mind like a wicked ghost that refuses to rest. "I am not clumsy," she denied indignantly. "Unfortunate things just happen to make and make it appear that I'm clumsy."

Remus nodded, unbelieving.

She rolled her eyes and huffed although with good humor. "Here," she said. "Let me take these and put them in Lexi's room for you." Tonks took the items out of Remus's hands and while he stood at the doorway, she entered Alexis's cluttered but strangely organized room and set the items down on her overfilled desk. Something suddenly caught her eye and Tonks stopped abruptly, staring at a signature on a letter. It was signed, _Narcissa Malfoy_.

"Bugger it all," she muttered, catching Remus's attention.

"What's wrong?" he asked and hesitantly stepped into Alexis's room. He knew she didn't like people in her room and had always respected that, but he had to see what caught Tonks's interest so easily and suddenly.

"Look at this—these," she said while picking up a thick set of letters Alexis had set on the corner of her desk. "Lexi's been exchanging letters with Narcissa Malfoy all this time."

Remus sighed, unsure of what to think about this. "I don't see any wrong in this," he finally said softly. "Narcissa Malfoy is still your aunt." He had steeled his temptation and prevented himself from flipping through the letters, but Tonks, having never had any care for her cousin's personal privacy, was flipping through and reading everything.

"Ah, no wonder Lexi was so stubborn in saying Rookwood faked his death." Remus was forced to look because it wasn't a matter of temptation any longer—it involved the Order. "Narcissa told her part of the plan!"

"How is Narcissa Malfoy able to tell Lexi part of the plan? Didn't we already settle that she _wants_ her plan to succeed?"

"Their relationship is complicated," Tonks said simply and knitted her eyebrows together. "I really want to read through all of these."

"Let's not do that," he said, taking the letters out of her hands gently and setting them back to where they'd been, at the corner of the desk under a rather large and old book.

"But Lexi's hiding things from us, things that involve the Order! Why has she never mentioned the fact that she's been communicating on a close level with Narcissa Malfoy to us before? Look!" Tonks grabbed the pile of letters and showed Remus yet another one by shoving it in his face. "They're talking about shopping! Do you know how often Lexi talks about shopping with me? Once a year!"

He again made her set the letter down and took her hands, pulling her out of Alexis's room. Remus quickly closed the door behind them and stood between it and Tonks with a smile. "It's Lexi's decision whether she wants to tell us or not. Every person is entitled to their own privacy."

"Fine," she groaned and followed him into their room. "Goodnight, Remus."

He watched her a moment as she climbed onto the bed, kicked off her boots, and hid herself entirely under the blanket. He sighed as well and crawled into bed, initially lying with his back against hers until he succumbed to his own habits and turned around to slip his arm over her waist and hold her. For a while Tonks didn't move and Remus thought she'd fallen asleep until she turned around and buried her face in his chest. As they drifted off into much-needed sleep, Remus was trying to think of how he should reveal the thing he feared most about himself to Tonks. No answer came to him. It seems to not even exist.

* * *

The afternoon came by slowly and lazily. After cleaning themselves up from a long night of guard duty and a few hours of sleep, Remus and Tonks went downstairs. Sirius announced the results of the trial in a dramatic manner, emphasizing how Dumbledore was brilliant, Alexis had fallen asleep, Madam Bones saved the day, and Harry was cleared of all charges.

Following the news of Harry's trial, the summer went by almost like the last. Harry smiled more often, especially with Sirius around purposely doing strange and silly things to make him laugh. Silvia's belly was getting larger, Tonks was as clumsy as ever, and Remus often found himself lost in thought for no apparent reason at all.

Since the next Order meeting was still a long time away, Molly had taken to cleaning up Grimmauld Place with all the free time. She'd finally managed to convince Sirius to help tackle the drawing room and every resident of number 12 was at her disposal. Remus and Tonks were tasked with cleaning out the glass-fronted cabinets and they did so with great trouble. Together, Remus and Tonks began throwing out the contents of the cabinet, often catching Kreacher trying to sneak a few things off.

"Wait," said Remus placidly, holding Tonks back from storming over to the elf half buried in a pile of rubbish. "Just leave him alone. We might be throwing out some of his things."

"That elf freaks me out," said Tonks. "And Sirius says there's something up with him."

Remus sighed. "Let it go, dear." His words were gentle. "He's just an elf."

"All right," Tonks muttered. She continued to clean out the contents of the cabinet quietly for a while. When Tonks spoke up again, it was to show Remus a strange thing she'd come across, several boxes bearing an ancient language of sort. "Does this look important?"

"I don't know but I don't think we should open it," he replied.

She looked at it quizzically. "Maybe Lexi will find this interesting. Let's get her to look at it. Where is she?"

"Most likely in the kitchen," he answered. "She left with George a while ago."

Tonks groaned and lifted herself up, taking the peculiar box with her. "Oh Lexi, you lazy, lazy prat," she grumbled, leaving the drawing room and walking past Harry, Ron, and Hermione who were trying to push Kreacher away from their own pile of rubbish.

When Tonks got to the kitchen, she noticed that the door was closed most of the way. Curious as to what Lexi and George were doing alone in there while Fred was in the drawing room and Marrick was working overtime at work, Tonks leaned closer and pressed her eye gently against the gap. She could see Alexis, pixie-like and seeming to be skinnier than she was before, sitting with George and holding his hand. Tonks raised an eyebrow. They were talking, simply talking, but yet Lexi was holding onto George's hands for comfort.

"Lexi, you twat," Tonks murmured to herself. Even when they were little, whenever Alexis confided in Tonks, never would she hold her hand. Alexis would always sit stiff and still and Tonks would be the one seeking to comfort her with hugs and offers of allowing her to borrow some of her toys. She wondered what Alexis and George could be talking about.

"…you don't have to try to live up to other's expectations you know. Fred and I, we just live by our own rules and impress others at random times."

Alexis smiled softly. "Yes but you haven't been asked by Albus Dumbledore personally to do something you know you can't."

"You're the Head of the Department of Mysteries. What _can't_ you do?"

"I can't overpower ancient magic, that's what I can't do and that's exactly what Dumbledore is asking me to do."

George was quiet for a while, and then said, "Change of topic then. Does Marrick know that you're troubled by this?"

"I haven't got a chance to talk to him." Alexis pulled her hand back from George's hold and lifted her glass of wine to her lips, finishing it in one swallow. "Haven't gotten a chance to say much to him lately," she went on. "We go to work, we have separate guard duties, and when we _do_ see each other, we're too tired to talk about anything and instead just fall asleep."

"You can always talk to me…Fred and me…and Ginny and Hermione too. I don't know about Ron though, and you definitely can't tell Harry some of these things, knowing him—"

"It's rude to eavesdrop you know."

"Shite," Tonks whispered under her breath, pulling back and staring at Remus's gentle eyes, startled. Her heart was beating incredibly fast and she smiled, shaking her head at him. "You scared me."

He took her hand and pulled her away from the kitchen door. They stood in the middle of the hallway, beside the cleaning closet with its door wide open. Remus smirked and placed his hand on the doorjamb just above her head, his other hand resting on her waist. Looking at him and the playfulness in his eyes, she was seized by a desire to touch and hold him. Tonks wasn't one to deny her desires and wrapped her arms around his lanky body, pulling him close. With the next Order meeting days away and Harry's trial days behind, Tonks and Remus were in significantly better moods and both have become much more playful as of late.

"Why were you eavesdropping on Lexi and George?" Remus asked.

"I was curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat you know."

"Well I'm not a cat, and besides, Lexi was holding George's hand. She never holds anyone's hand! She's strange that way. You'd get a hug, but never a hand hold. _And_, Lexi's been keeping a lot of secrets lately. It's making me wonder."

Looking at her, Remus raised an eyebrow and smiled wryly. "_You're_ quite a wonder, do you know that?"

"Shut up," she said amiably. "I'm just surprised at how close Lexi and George are."

"It's their business, and we all know Lexi isn't the kind of person to entangle in complicated romantic affairs—"

"Oh that's just you saying that," she laughed.

"—but either way, it's her business. She doesn't intrude on ours, so we shouldn't intrude on hers," he finished despite her interruption.

"You know Remus," she said, her voice light and in a teasing manner, "it still baffles me that you're a Marauder sometimes. I mean Sirius would jump in on them and do something ridiculous. But you…you're just so different."

He smiled and tightened his arms around her svelte figure. "Different is good, love. And besides, Sirius is soon to be a father. He wouldn't do that, I know, I've seen changes in him."

Tonks rolled her eyes and kissed Remus's lips lightly. "I give up on you. You always have a rebuttal for everything I say."

"I don't have a rebuttal for that," he replied and kissed her lips briefly.

"So what was that?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

Tonks smirked and kissed him again, harder. They lingered in the warm embrace, losing themselves in each other. It'd been a while since they were able to forget about everything in the world and simply be with only each other. With the events of the last few days spent cleaning, cleaning, and doing more cleaning, Remus's and Tonks's minds were cleared. At one point, they'd almost forgotten that a war was drawing near.

Blindly, Tonks's hand searched for the doorknob. Their lips never pulled away from each other. Kissing on and on, their heartbeats rose as well. Remus and Tonks made their way inside the small and dark closet and she closed the door behind them, plunging with him into darkness and pleasure. Things were always so much more fun in the dark.

* * *

The next day, once the dark objects and strange old items in the drawing room were all cleared out, Molly had ordered for the kids and all able-bodied residents to help spray for Doxies in the old room. Once again, Remus and Tonks were at Molly's disposal and found themselves holding their breaths while spraying Doxycide at the tapestry and throwing the small biting fairies into a sack Ron was holding. Tonks did so grudgingly and continued to express her dislike of Doxies to Remus who could only smile and try to appease her with gentle words.

"We're almost done," he said, tossing a rather portly Doxy into the large sack.

"Bloody hell," Tonks grunted, kicking one with her boot and picking it up by its bent wing. "These things are so annoying."

"There, there," said Remus placidly, holding out the back to her.

"Hey, where are Sirius and Silvia going?" Tonks asked, looking up and noticing Sirius help an extremely pale Silvia out of the drawing room and towards the staircase.

"Sirius thinks Silvia is allergic to the Doxies. She's feeling terrible and as you can see, is getting paler by the second."

Tonks made a face. Harry was going after them now, using the excuse of checking on his godmother's health in order to get out of catching pesky little Doxies. "You know, whenever I look at Harry, I'm always reminded of how twisted and strange our family is," she told Remus.

"What do you mean, love?"

"He sees Sirius and Silvia as his godparents, of course. But he sees you and me as his aunt and uncle of sort," Remus nodded as she went on, "and Harry sees Marrick and Lexi as older siblings. Think about it. Isn't it buggered up?"

Remus smiled and shook his head gently at her while shoving a very hairy Doxy into the bag. "It is strange, I admit that," he said. "But I don't think it matters. We're family, and same goes with Molly and Arthur and the Weasleys and Hermione." He smiled. "I kind of consider them family too."

She smirked. "I knew you'd say that. It's not like you to leave anyone out. So the whole Order of the Phoenix is one giant, awkward family," Tonks joked. "Merlin that's messed up."

"I wouldn't go so far as saying the whole Order is a family."

"Oh yes, Snape," she laughed, pushing Remus playfully. "You and Sirius wouldn't be caught dead admitting old Snivellus as a part of your family."

"Now that's mean, I wouldn't say it like that," he replied, smiling and holding the bag full of squirming and protesting hairy fairies at her.

"Remus, get that away from me!" she laughed, running away from him and bumping right into Hermione who had let go of a Doxy and it flew madly around the room.

Molly squealed and Ginny started laughing beside Lexi and Marrick as they watch Fred and George purposely let go of another three Doxies.

"I asked you to clean, not make more of a mess!" Molly scolded.

Turning away from Molly who went on scolding Fred and George, Tonks smiled to Remus in a sort of way that reminded him of his school days, the smiles he and his friends would exchange when they almost got into trouble. Remus looked at her mischievous smile with reminiscent eyes for a moment. His thoughts, however, were interrupted abruptly by Sirius who suddenly ran down the stairs, screaming.

"MOLLY! SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH SILVIA!" he hollered, tripping down the last step and causing his mother's portrait to start screaming insults at them.

Molly looked up, breathless. "Sirius, what's—"

Silvia's painful, bloodcurdling screech suddenly sounded from upstairs and that time, Harry came down running, looking absolutely horrified and confused.

"She's in pain! Something's wrong!"

"Oh my goodness," Molly breathed, getting up to her feet and rushing towards the stairs.

"What do you think is going on?" Tonks asked worriedly.

"WE WON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO GET HER TO ST. MUNGO'S!" Molly hollered down the stairs. Sirius answered with a very bemused, "_What?_" while Molly called for Tonks and Alexis to come up and help her.

Tonks turned to Remus with a bewildered look but he beckoned her kindly, saying, "Go on," and she headed upstairs with an equally confused and worried Alexis.

"Molly, what's wrong with my wife?" Sirius asked while running back upstairs.

Remus had handed the sack of Doxies back to Ron and headed towards the stairs himself. He was trying to yank Mrs. Black's curtains closed over her screaming portrait but no matter how hard he tried, the woman in the portrait continued to resist and continued to scream. Upstairs, he could hear footsteps pacing madly back and forth and the next thing he knew, Sirius was coming towards him, tripping down the stairs, sweating bullets, his grey eyes mad.

"Sirius, what's wrong with Silv?" he asked after giving up on the task of closing Mrs. Black's curtains—the woman was just too stubborn sometimes.

"Molly says Silvia's in labor," Sirius breathed.

"WHAT?" his voice mixed in with that of the kids who were listening to them just a few steps below. "B-but, isn't it a bit early?" Remus asked.

"I don't know! We were sure Silvia would be due in September at the earliest!"

Hermione pushed herself past Ron and said, "Silvia's an auror. Would her job have caused her to be due earlier than normal?"

Again, Sirius didn't know. "She said she'd transferred to a desk job." He turned and rushed back up to his room again where Tonks had ran out, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Can I come in?" he asked his panic-stricken blue-haired cousin.

"OF COURSE NOT!" Tonks snapped, running into the kitchen and back just as quickly with an armful of colorful potion bottles. "I don't know which one, Molly!" she called up. "I just grabbed them all!"

Remus stood there, stunned for a moment, wondering what in the world was happening. Harry came up to comfort Sirius who was beginning to wear a trench into the staircase as he paced worriedly up and down, wringing his hands. Mrs. Black continued to scream behind him but her screams were lost on Remus as he listened closely to Silvia's painful shrieks that tore through the house. He wondered what was happening inside the room.

Silvia screamed again and Remus cringed.

"Giving birth sounds painful!" said Ron.

"How do you think the baby gets out Ronald?" Hermione replied curtly.

Ron gave her a dirty look, parted his lips, but seemed to have thought it'd be better to not say anything and kept quiet. Hermione and Ginny stood beside each other, looking up at the closed door to Sirius's bedroom with worry.

"What if something happens?" Sirius asked Harry then turned to Remus.

"She'll be fine, Sirius," said Remus.

As if to completely contradict his word of comfort, Silvia screamed again and Sirius jumped. "She doesn't sound fine," Sirius said.

Time passed them by, how much they didn't quite know. After what felt like too long of a wait, Silvia finally stopped screaming and they fell into a strange silence. Remus could hear Sirius's breath hitch audibly. They stood there waiting for a moment, then Sirius rushed up to the locked door just as they heard a new sound, the crying of a baby.

"Is it done?" Sirius asked, banging nervously on the door. "Can I come in?" His words came out rapidly. "Is Silvia all right? Is my son all right?"

For several minutes that felt like several eternities, they heard nothing except for the baby's cries. Sirius pressed hard against the door, looking like he was about to die in his anticipation. Remus stood behind him, a hand placed on his best friend's shoulder as they and the kids waited together. When the doorknob turned, Sirius nearly had a heart attack as he pulled back and attempted to put on a calm expression.

Molly opened the door wider and Remus, taller than the rest, could only see Silvia sitting on the bed, holding a small bundle where the baby resided. Smiling, Molly pulled Sirius into a bone-breaking hug and when she let go, Remus could see tears of happiness in her eyes. She was still smiling as she looked closely at Sirius and shook her head.

"A little early," she said warmly. "But he's a healthy boy. He looks just like you, Sirius."

"Like me," said Sirius in a shaky voice. He turned back to Remus and looking at his best friend, Remus was surprised to see that Sirius was shaking, his face wearing an expression of happiness nothing could match. "Moony, my son looks like me," he laughed and choked slightly. "C-can I go in and see her and the boy?" he turned back to Molly and asked.

"Of course," she said and made way for him.

Remus was content with standing at the doorway and watching in. Alexis backed up to the banister outside, leaning into Marrick's embrace while Tonks walked into Remus's arms and held him as they watched Sirius take Silvia's hand and hold his child for the very first time. Molly pushed the kids back and stood on the other side of the door. Her four children, Harry, Hermione all crowded around, trying to look inside at the happy family.

"I've never seen them so happy," said Tonks softly to Remus.

"I've never seen him shake in his happiness…not even during his wedding day."

"You should see him, Remus—the baby—he's beautiful. He looks exactly like Sirius. It's amazing. Though…" she laughed, "luckily Molly knew what she was doing."

"What will you name him, Sirius?" Molly asked gently as Fred and George each rested their head on her shoulders, looking into the room.

"Lucas," Sirius choked out, rocking the baby gently. He then looked up into his wife's eyes, exchanged a private message that only they could understand. "Lucas Arcturus Black."

Smiling, Remus tightened his arms around Tonks's waist and watched quietly as Remus held both his wife and his newborn son in his arms. In Sirius's eyes, Remus couldn't remember seeing that look before, so full of life and mirth and joy. The way Sirius looked at his child was something entirely new to Remus. He looked up and first, Sirius beckoned for Harry to come over. Remus shifted and allowed the bespectacled boy with unruly black hair passage through and Harry, like Sirius, was stunned and fascinated as he smiled and stroked the baby's cheek.

"Remus," said Sirius, looking up. In a shaky voice, Sirius asked, "You'll be godfather?"

He was rendered speechless.

Tonks tightened her hold on his hand. Remus looked to her and found her smiling. Returning to Sirius and Silvia, he could only manage a nod. Sirius saw and beamed at his silent reply. Molly beckoned Remus and Tonks forward. Taking slow, steady steps, Remus made his way over to the small family, laying eyes upon Lucas Black, his godson, for the very first time.

The child was nestled warmly in his parents' arms. Remus could see the baby's tiny hands moving around, balled up in little fists. Lucas looked around at everyone and began crying again, causing Remus to pull back slightly. The baby quickly quieted down when Silvia shifted her arms and held him closer against her chest. Slowly, Remus reached out and with Tonks's hand over his, steadying his shaking hand, he stroke baby Lucas's cheek.

Remus smiled.

"Wotcher Lucas," said Tonks happily. "Lexi, look," she smiled, running back towards the door and pulling Lexi, Marrick, and the others inside. "Look, he's kicking his feet."

They were all fascinated by the newborn child.

"He has your eyes, Sirius," said Remus softly, observing the baby with a gentle gaze.

"Yeah I know," Sirius grinned.

"Let's hope he has Silvia's personality instead of yours," Alexis said, causing Sirius to push her playfully saying, "Lexi you twat."

"Silvia, how are you feeling?" Remus asked.

"Better," she smiled and held the child out to him.

Together with everyone else, Remus and Tonks knelt down beside Sirius and Silvia's bed, gazing with tender care at the baby who was smiling now.

Sirius smiled, gazing at his son. "I finally have a little Marauder in the making," he said.


End file.
